Breath of Yesterday (The Curse Series) (6 page)

“Several days later, the sisters again went fishing. The youngest sisters rowed into the lake, while the two oldest again stayed behind on the shore. Every single day thereafter, the men returned and continued to gain the girls’ trust. Not only did they steal the fair maidens’ innocent hearts, but they finally took their bodies, too. In their virtue and purity, these girls trusted the warriors’ whispered words. They mistook the warriors’ advances for true love. And so the two men made these lovely, naive girls their brides in a traditional handfasting ceremony.

“When the sisters returned the next day, the handsome warriors were gone. The girls realized their mistake, and their broken hearts screamed in so much agony that it almost killed them. Bound by their intense love for one another, all five sisters felt the betrayal equally—and all of their hearts seemed lost forever. They didn’t know what else to do except confide in their father. The father blamed himself for his beloved daughters’ misfortune. He could not bear to see them in pain. Their pure hearts were unable to cope with the wicked betrayal, so he did the only thing any loving father would do to relieve his children’s misery. He saved their hearts and released them from their suffering.

“He turned his daughters to stone to keep them safe from harm for eternity. As unique and beautiful as his daughters had been, he sculpted the mountains to honor each one of them. And when the time came that they felt as strong as the rocks surrounding them, they would only have to raise their golden voices to turn themselves back into the happy, carefree maidens they had been before looking evil in the eye. Then they’d be able to follow the rose-lined
path
that he would hold open
for all time
so they could return and forgive him for carrying the terrible guilt of their pain and sorrow. For as long as the roses will bloom in the shade of the mountain sisters, their path back to life and youth and their father’s loving arms shall always remain open.”

As Payton finished, my tears fell onto his chest.

“Isn’t this the most wonderful story?”

I found it hard to make my voice sound even and strong. That was how deeply the sisters’ fate had touched me.

“So it is,
mo luaidh
.”

We lay in silence, and our hearts beat as one. Silvery moonlight fell through the window, shining on our bed, and I saw the five mountain peaks before me—five souls, safely locked away from the world within hard, eternal rock.

I thought about the path that the father had vowed to keep open for them. Could it truly exist?

“How would we go about finding it?” I whispered, saying my thoughts out loud.

“I have an idea of where we might start,” Payton replied sleepily. A moment later, his regular breathing told me that he had fallen asleep. I lay awake for a long time, watching over him and praying for a future with this wonderful man by my side. Because there was nobody in my life who could turn me into stone and take my hurt away, if it came to that, I would have to suffer through the pain.

C
HAPTER
8

I
t was a damp and foggy morning. The cold clamminess of it soaked right through my skin and made me shiver. Longingly, I glanced back at Payton’s car, whose heated seats had kept me warm until a moment ago.

I found it impossible to keep up with my two Scots on this uneven terrain. The brothers had already reached the small cemetery by Auld a´chruinn on the Road to the Isles. Right behind it I could see the majestic mountain range of Kintail with its five peaks—the Five Sisters.

I wasn’t sure if I felt chilly because of the weather or because the legend was still reverberating in my brain. But I did feel unsettled when I left the narrow dirt road and entered the cemetery by way of its crumbling gate.

An eerie silence welcomed me. It might have felt peaceful and serene on a less murky day, but the quiet only increased my uneasiness on this day in which my nerves were all over the place. As I continued, a bird scattered up and escaped, screeching, into the tree canopies. The haze rising from the lakeshore reminded me of a horror movie, and the sheer remoteness of this long-forgotten place seemed to fit that creepy picture as well.

I rubbed my arms to warm myself up, and I called Payton’s name. I’d feel much better once I was near him again.

“Right here,” he hollered. He stepped out from behind the former chapel at the center of this old decrepit boneyard.

I moved carefully so as not to stumble over one of the sunken gravestones. The more graves I passed, the more relaxed I felt. Luscious green grass had taken over the reins of the once carefully landscaped paths. Several of the headstones had submitted to the elements, and they now leaned to the side or had even broken in half. Silvery cobwebs stretched across the barely recognizable paths. I was glad when Payton put his arms around my shoulders and gently kissed me on the forehead.

“What do you think? Could this be the right place?” I asked.

“Take a look around! This is a place where legends are forged, don’t you think?”

“Sure, but how can you know if there really is a tear in the fabric of time somewhere around here? Or this
path through all time
mentioned in the story?”

“I can’t say, but the location looks about right. We’re at the foot of the Five Sisters—in their shade—which might also indicate protection. At Loch Duich in front of us, the girls must have met their fate. And over there on the hill, do you see the big memorial stone? They call that the Druid Father.”

I swallowed hard. Was it possible that all of this was a coincidence? But before I could reply, Sean trotted over to us. He had walked the length and breadth of the entire cemetery and seemed a little lost.

“I’ve found nothing,” he said angrily, running his fingers through his short blond hair. “Maybe we were wrong. Just because cemeteries have played a prominent role in so many other legends or are supposed to possess a lot of power doesn’t mean it’s true for us.”

“But I had a good feeling about this place. Somehow it seems
right,
” Payton said, looking around as if searching for something.

“What if we tried our luck with the Druid Father stone? Maybe it marks the spot or contains a hint of some sort,” I suggested.

The brothers agreed, so we made our way up the short, steep slope of the hill. I was pretty hot from all the exercise and opened my jacket. Up here the air was clear, and with every step we took, the view of the sparkling lake—nestled between the gentle foothills of the Five Sisters—became more beautiful.

“I’ve been thinking,” Sean started. “I was serious yesterday. Payton, I don’t think you are strong enough for this kind of journey. Remember how hard life was back then? The trip from here to Burragh alone will take several days.”

We had reached the Druid Father
stone. Just the short hike up the hill had drained Payton of his strength, and he had to sit down by the foot of the stone to get some rest. I slipped out of my jacket and sat down, using it as a cushion so I wouldn’t get my pants dirty. One last time, Sean let his eyes wander over the lake below. To him it seemed almost ghostly in this pale early-morning light. Then he looked at his brother.

“I really have no idea how I would manage, but we haven’t found the path through time yet…if it even exists,” Payton muttered, dejected.

Sean wasn’t ready to give in just yet.

“But once we find it, we can’t afford to waste any more time. So we may as well think about it now. I will go in your stead and bring you Vanora’s blood. And you will do your goddamn best to hold on, stay alive, and wait for my return. Aye?”

Payton looked at his brother for a long time before holding out his hand. Sean shook it with great relief.

“Brother, I swear to you that I won’t let you die,” Sean pledged.

I turned away, feeling like a third wheel eavesdropping on an intimate moment between siblings. At the same time, I was glad that Payton wouldn’t be putting himself at risk. I trusted Sean unquestionably, as he had become like a brother to me. If anyone had the strength and ability to master this challenge, it was this brave young Scot in front of me. After all, he was already familiar with the time period and wouldn’t have any trouble finding his way around.

“Mending it. Right, Sam?” a voice rang into my thoughts.

“Huh? Were you talking to me?”

“Sean wants to know if you could mend his old plaid. If we really find a way, then we need to start preparing. Sean will need to look as inconspicuous as possible. His old plaid would be perfect! In addition to his dagger, he’ll also need his broadsword. And he should take along some food, because supermarkets were few and far between back in the day,” Payton said, clowning around.

I had to laugh even though I was in no mood for jokes. These two were crazy just thinking about all of this.

“Do you really think you can take all that stuff with you?” I voiced my doubts. “Just like that, like you’re on vacation or something? Maybe fill your little Louis Vuitton duffel bag with ramen noodles? And don’t forget your smartphone so you can bring back unforgettable pictures and videos from the eighteenth century to show to your friends. Oh, and remember to pack a Tupperware container for Vanora’s blood.”

Still, it was a relief to be making plans, even if we were as far away from saving Payton as we had been yesterday. It just felt better. We had hope—and something of a plan. We cracked a few more jokes before we started working on the marker stone.

We examined every nook and cranny, every line chiseled into it. We walked around it clockwise and counterclockwise, and followed every inch of its surface with our fingers. The brothers even lifted me up so I could get a look on the top of it. There wasn’t a trace of a hint on the entire goddamn stone.

“Maybe we weren’t that far off back at the cemetery. There’s nothing here, that’s for sure.”

Although I knew we wouldn’t come across neon signs flashing messages like
“Return to the past”
or
“This way to the tear in the fabric of time,”
I had hoped we’d have more luck. Hadn’t movies and novels proven that there were always mysterious signs to be found glistening in the sunlight—like a thick layer of cobwebs hiding some secret passageway? On the other hand, if a portal to the past was so easy to find, there’d probably be a thriving tourism business exploiting it.

The hike uphill had been easy enough for me, but the hike back down proved almost impossible. Wearing nothing but simple sandals, I kept slipping on the dewy grass, and the seat of my pants was smeared with muck after only a few yards. I was irritated, knowing that the steepest part of the journey down was still in front of me.

The boys laughed at my ineptitude, and Sean handed me his
sgian dhu
.

“What am I going to do with this thing? Do you think it’s easier to fall into a knife than into the mud?”

“When you’re climbing down this next part, just ram it into the earth and use the handle to hold on. Oh, and try
not
to stumble into the blade, aye?”

Sean grinned up at me before taking a sure-footed jump down the slope. It looked so easy. Full of doubt, I glanced at the small knife in my palm and then at the downward slope. Luckily, a grinning Payton offered me his hand. I carefully slipped the dagger sideways into my belt and slid down into Payton’s arms.

Once we finally made our way down the hill, we hurried to follow Sean back to the cemetery. But before we passed through the gate, Payton grabbed me. He shot a quick glance over the cemetery wall before ducking behind it and pulling me down with him. Before I could complain about being back in the damp grass, he closed my mouth with a kiss. His hand reached behind my neck and pulled me even closer to him. Almost without a will of my own, I submitted to his hungry kiss, returning it with the same ferocious passion.

“I am sorry,
mo luaidh,
but I had to feel you close to me. I am worried that I don’t have much time left.”

I caressed his cheek with my fingertips, touched his lips, and lingered on the little scar on his chin. Of course he was afraid. I myself was barely able to breathe because I worried about him so much. I didn’t want to think about all these terrible things. Didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to lose him. Didn’t want to allow this fear to germinate and take root.

“How did you get this?” I changed the subject, kissing him very gently on his chin.

“The scar? Oh, I’ve had it for ages. I can’t even remember when I got it. When I was young, Kyle and I would earn our daily share of scrapes and bruises. This is probably one of those.”

“Kyle? That’s your little brother? The one Nathaira mentioned?”

Payton didn’t respond, but his eyes grew darker.

“Why did you get so many cuts and bruises? Did you get into a lot of fights?”

There it was, a smile. “No, during that time, Sean and Blair tried to share their broadsword skills with us, their little brothers. They were both excellent warriors but very bad teachers. Not a day went by that we didn’t lose some blood.”

“Well, my theory is that your brothers realized that you were the handsomest of them all, and so they tried to put things right,” I teased.

“Oh yeah? You think? Honestly, Kyle was the handsomest of us all. He was pretty cute even as a baby, and he just got better looking with every year. All the girls were crazy for him! They got into fights and used love potions just to get his attention.”

“It’s true!” Sean interjected, swinging his legs over the top of the cemetery wall. He scowled. “And just so you know, if Blair or I had really wanted to cut Payton down to size, then your hunky boyfriend here would barely reach the tip of your nose today. Besides, I am shocked that you think
he
’s better looking than I am!”

“How long have you been listening?” Payton cut in. He didn’t seem to appreciate how Sean was talking about him.

“I’m not eavesdropping. I’ve been sitting over here on the other side of the wall because I wanted to show you something. But then you decided to have a make-out session right here on the heath, and I didn’t want to intrude.”

“Thank you for being so considerate,” I said, “but we were
not
making out!” I could feel my cheeks burning.

“All right, then. What is it that you wanted to show us?” Payton cut through our bickering.

Sean pointed at a line of graves on his side of the wall. Behind the gravestones was a gray obelisk rising up into the sky.

“Since we don’t know what we’re looking for, searching every square inch of this place could take days. I’ve been thinking this whole time that there must be some small hint or some kind of mechanism hidden around here. When I saw this crow land on top of the obelisk, something occurred to me about time. Obelisks symbolize rays of sunshine that have turned to stone, and they’re supposed to connect the heavens and the earth. So it wouldn’t be entirely unusual to see a gravestone in the shape of one. But that one over there is not on a grave. It’s completely freestanding, nowhere near a grave. Back in the day, people measured the passage of time using the shadow cast by such an obelisk. I know it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. So, what do you say? Should we take apart that obelisk and find your damn portal?”

Actually, Sean’s explanations sounded logical—so with newfound courage and a lot of enthusiasm, we set about examining that long stone pillar in great detail.

Sean and Payton were completely engrossed in inspecting the old, withered letters on a moss-covered inscription.

That was my chance. Since the moment I’d sat down on that cold, damp ground I’d had to pee. I had tried in vain to suppress it, but the need was getting urgent. So I took advantage of the guys being distracted and disappeared behind what was left of the decrepit chapel. The decaying walls were still high enough to offer protection from unwanted attention. Since I really wanted to avoid defiling one of the old graves, I hurried over to the cemetery wall where there were only a few headstones, and I relieved myself behind one of them. Fortunately, the brothers were nowhere in sight.

When I stepped out from behind the gravestone, Sean’s dagger slipped out of my belt. As I bent down to reach for it, I noticed an inscription on the stone.

Mo còig nighean

Mora, Fia, Gillian, Robena, Alba,

Gabh mo leisgeul

Tha gabh mi gradhaich a thu

I couldn’t make it all out because a rosebush covered parts of it, but I felt I’d discovered something significant. I picked up the
sgian dhu,
put it back in my belt, and knelt on the ground. Carefully, I pushed away the branches and examined the inscription in more detail. I didn’t know many words in Gaelic, but I knew
nighean
. It meant “daughter.” And
còig
was easy. “Five.” My heart thumped inside my chest. This wasn’t a headstone! Trembling, I pushed a strand of hair from my eyes and wiped the moss off the next line.