The Secret of the Stone House (6 page)

“I was good, wasn’t I?” he laughed, his face turning a little red.

“Too good,” she added, not able to resist a little
poke at him.

She thought again about the possibility that he had taken the smooth black stone from the crevice of sentinel rock, which stopped her from returning to visit them in the springtime. His mischief may have caused serious repercussions for Emma. But she didn’t want Geordie to feel bad. Besides, there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

“Where have you been?” Geordie asked, looking at her in a puzzled way.

“Woolgathering,” she answered, bringing her thoughts back to the present.

“For sure,” he said, “but I mean for the last four years. I never could figure out exactly where you came from.” He shoved his hands into his overalls and waited for her to answer.

Whew! That was going to take some explaining!

“What do you know of the second sight?” she asked.

“I know my granny and Emma both had it,” he answered. “They could tell things about people and about the future. Premonitions and such.”

“Well, then you probably know they see things in visions...in their minds.”

He seemed unsure of what she meant, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Or it could be like dreams. You have dreams, right?”

He nodded.

“Have you ever had a dream so real you actually thought it was taking place?”

“I suppose I have,” he admitted.

“Well, what if you dreamt about the past, when you lived in Scotland, or if you dreamt about what it would be like to live in your grandparents’ time?”

He thought about that for a few moments. “All right,” he nodded, reluctantly.

“Well, that’s kind of what it’s like for me,” she said. “It’s like I’m dreaming about what happened in my past, only everything is very real to me.”

“But how come you’re real to me, too?” He stepped back, uneasily.

“I don’t understand it myself,” she said. “But maybe you’re dreaming about the future and I’m dreaming about the past, but we’re both in the same dream and able to talk to each other.”

He thought about it for a few moments. “I think I understand better now,” he said, although he still kept his distance from her.

“Good. I know it’s hard to believe,” she said. “I can’t really explain how it happens, but I know Emma understood too.”

He smiled. “Yes, you were a special friend to her.”

Emily sighed, as she pictured Emma when she first met her – her laughing face surrounded by blonde braids that hung halfway down her back. The two of them would sit atop the sentinel rock, with their hair gently wafted by the wind, Emma in her long dress and high-buttoned shoes swinging over the edge, and she in jeans with her sneakers. Or they’d walk on the prairie, sharing each other’s know-ledge of plants or picking mushrooms after a rain.

“You helped save our lives, you know,” Geordie interrupted her thoughts.

Emily knew he was referring to the time she and Emma struggled to save the Elliott family during a dangerous flu epidemic.

“Maybe a little,” she said. They hadn’t been very successful with Emma’s granny, who had died.

As if reading her thoughts, Geordie said, “Granny was already dying. There wasn’t anything anyone could do for her.”

Emily closed her eyes and felt her throat tighten with emotion.

“You and Emma, you made a good pair.” Geordie said. Then to change the subject, he said, “Do you remember when I pitched the salamander at you?”

Emily giggled. “Yeah, Emma was sure quick to chase you with it.
”
They’d been sitting on a blanket braiding onions in the warm autumn sun, when Geordie had snuck up on them.

“That’s why I always teased her,” he admitted. “She never let me get away with anything.”

“She certainly stood up for herself,” Emily agreed, torn between wanting to hear more about Emma and wanting to push the sad memories away. The choice was made for her, though, because she knew she couldn’t stay much longer.

“I need to go home,” she said, “but tell me first, why is there no one at your house?”

“We are building a new one,” he said, pointing back the way he’d come. “Everyone is helping so we can move in soon.”

“But why are there no animals at your old place?”

“We’ve already moved them, so we can care for them during the day while we’re working. Would you like to see our new place?” Geordie said eagerly.

Instantly, Emily became excited. But should she risk taking the time to go? “How far is it?”

“Just across the pasture,” he motioned.

“Well, if we hurry,” Emily came to a sudden decision. She’d chance going and hope her mother wasn’t expecting her yet. She could always say she’d meant she would be gone for two hours, though she knew even that time was probably almost up.

“Come on, Sorcha,” Geordie called.

They raced across the prairie with the border collie trotting ahead of them. Emily’s heart pounded in her chest as she ran over the rough terrain. Excitement bubbled inside her too. At last, she was going to reconnect with Emma’s family.

As they dropped over a rise, Emily stopped abruptly. Geordie almost ran into her. Sorcha barked at the sudden change of plan and returned to them, wagging her tail. Emily stared in astonishment. At the bottom length of the pasture stood a stone house – her grandmother’s stone house.

CHAPTER FIVE

Emily stared at the partially built stone house,
already almost two storeys high. Scaffolding surrounded the walls with plank ramps jutting to the ground below.
Two of Geordie’s older brothers shunted a huge fieldstone up the ramp and placed it on top of one wall. Two other men, one on the ground and the other at the top of the wall, hoisted pailfuls of mortar, using a system of ropes and pulleys. Someone else straddled the wall and trowelled the mortar in place.

A young woman came down a trail that led from a pit dug into a hillside, pushing a wheelbarrow towards the house. A fire burned briskly in the pit, and from the acrid smell, Emily knew it must be where the lime was being prepared. On the ground, two women struggled to lever a heavy granite rock onto a plank. Several piles of different-sized rocks dotted the ground behind them. Two young girls sifted gravel, catching the fine sand, which Emily assumed was for mixing with the lime to produce the mortar. She wasn’t sure who all the people were from this distance, but she was positive Geordie’s whole family must be there, including his mom and sisters. There also seemed to be an extra man helping.

“Isn’t it grand?” Geordie asked at her elbow.

“It’s beautiful,” Emily whispered. How incredible to see her grandmother’s house in the making!

“Bet you’ve never seen anything so splendid,” he said.

Emily smiled at him. “Actually, I have,” she said. “I’m staying in this very same house.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “How could you? Oh...” Sudden realization seemed to strike him and he began to laugh. “Of course, you are from my future.”

Joining in his laughter, Emily nodded. “Incredible, isn’t it?”

“Indeed! Would you like a closer look?”

“I would,” said Emily, “but I can’t right now. I have to get back home.”

“At least you’re not far,” he said chuckling.

“True,” she answered, “but I can only go back and forth between your world and mine at the rock.”

“I always wondered how you did it,” Geordie waited for her to explain.

When she told him about the need for the smooth black stone and how she’d left it at the sentinel rock between times, a sudden stillness came over him.

“Show it to me.”

She pulled it out of her pocket and opened her hand.

“Don’t touch it,” she warned, “I don’t know what will happen.” A surge of fear raced up her spine.

Geordie stared at it intently. “It was because of me, wasn’t it? Because I took the stone, you couldn’t come back?”

Emily said nothing.

“I’m so sorry, lass.” His voice cracked. “You might have saved Emma’s life?”

Emily shook her head, coming to a sudden realization. “No, Geordie, I don’t think I could have saved her. She was too sick. I don’t think even the medicine in my world would have worked.”

Emily knew what she said was true, although she’d wanted to blame someone, and Geordie in particular, for Emma’s death. Seeing him in anguish in front of her now, she knew it hadn’t been his fault.

“Let’s just remember the good bits,” Emily said softly, touching his arm. “Emma and I enjoyed our time together and I know you were close to her too.”

He stared unhappily at his feet.

Quietly, she said, “I have to go now, but I’ll come back again.”

He nodded, unable to speak.

She left him then, turning back only once to see him stumbling towards the construction site. Replacing the stone in her pocket, she jogged back to sentinel rock, skirting the old homestead and the bluff of trees now that she had her bearings.

Her sadness lifted as she cut across the prairie, avoiding gopher holes, large protruding stones, and hummocks of grass. By the time she reached the big rock, she was smiling to herself. How ironic that she was going to have to go back over the same ground she’d just covered in order to get home again. If only she could think of a way to get back and forth in time right at the stone house. She’d sure save a lot of time and energy!

When Emily returned to the yard, she saw the machinery lined up in the typical auction format of small implements to large ones, with the more expensive ones, like the tractor, grain truck, and combine at the end of the row for sale at the very last. Otherwise, the yard was deserted. She found everyone in the kitchen having coffee. Her mother seemed to be in command, as usual.

“Where have you been, young lady?” she demanded, pointing to the clock that ticked at a quarter past three. “I thought you said you’d be back by two?”

“No, in two hours,” Emily said, ready for the challenge. “I’m right on time!”

Her mother raised her eyebrows in surprise. She knew when she’d been outsmarted.

“What makes the pasture so fascinating?” Donald asked, reaching for another scone and slathering it with butter and wild raspberry jam.

Emily slid into a chair and reached for a glass of milk.

“There are all kind of neat things up there,” she answered. “Gran and I used to go together all the time. We used to pick plants and flowers. I was just checking out all our old haunts.”

“I seem to recall there’s a spectacular view from that huge old rock on the edge of the coulee,” he said. “I suppose you can still see the grain elevators at Glenavon?”

“Not for long, I’m sure,” said Gerald. “They’re tearing them down next month.”

“It’s such a pity to see these old landmarks disappear,” Donald remarked.

“I didn’t know you cared. Last I heard, you’d had enough of rural life,” Kate said, surprised. “I thought you didn’t find it fulfilling enough.”

“I can still appreciate important traditions and landmarks,” Donald replied. “Guess I’ve mellowed a little over the years.”

Emily observed the interchange, noticing her mom and Donald eyeing each other.

“So what’s left to do for the auction?” She peered at everyone sitting around the table.

“Just the small stuff,” said Aunt Liz, reaching for the auctioneer’s instruction sheet.

“I assume everything is already sorted into boxes?” Donald gave Kate a light smile.

“All ready to go,” she grinned back at him.

“Well then, seeing as how Kate is so on top of things,” Donald said, “maybe we could make sure some of the other gear like the air compressors, rototillers, posthole augers, and such are in place right now.”

Donald caught Gerald’s eye.

“Sure.” Gerald nodded.

Donald took a long sip of his coffee, staring intently at Kate over the rim of his cup until she blushed. Then he pushed back his chair.

Innocently, Emily got up and headed for the door behind the men. “I think I’ll get a little fresh air. It seems a little hot in here.”

Aunt Liz chuckled behind her. Kate clattered the dirty cups and plates as she gathered them. Emily didn’t know what to think. She liked Donald, but wasn’t sure about the effect he was having on her mom. She didn’t like the thought of anyone replacing her dad in her mom’s life.