Part 37 (1/2)
Glasgow. It had all originated out of Glasgow. And Thayer was from Glasgow. Thayer had been in the forest. Helping him find Toni? Or trying to make sure that he didn't find someone--or something--else?
Toni had noted the couple in their tour group right away, simply because they were so attractive. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine, and he was the tall, rugged looking sort who could have walked through a Western and been instantly perceived as the real thing. And though they walked the tour with the others, there was something about them that struck Toni.
So she wasn't at all surprised when the woman followed behind and stopped her, catching up with Toni at the bottom of the stairs as she tried to make her escape.
”Toni!”
”I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, the others will help you. I had a--er--fall today, and I've got a terrific headache,” Toni said, eager to keep going.
”I'm Darcy,” the woman said.
”Darcy?” Even as she repeated the name, Toni knew who the woman was. Dismay filled her.
”Darcy Stone, we talked on the phone--”
”I know who you are!” Toni said, shaking her head. ”But I told you not to come here!” Despite herself, she looked around. All she needed now was to have Bruce think that she was going to fill his castle with ghost hunters!
”I know. And please don't worry--we've not let anyone know who we are.”
”We!” Toni gasped.
”Just me and my husband.”
”Look, I'm certain you went through tremendous trouble and expense to get here, but I can't.. .you can't be here!”
”We've taken a little rental cottage in the village. Adam tried to reach you himself, but he wasn't able to get through. He's eager to talk to you. He's also afraid that things may be very serious if you've actually tried to reach him. So...here we are. It wasn't really such a bad trip. We made it in this morning.”
She had a level tone, a sweet smile and a certain down-to-earth manner that belied her sophisticated looks.
”There is a presence here,” she said.
Toni stiffened.
”Look, I'm leaving. But, please, I'm certain you need to talk to someone.”
”I can't talk to you here, now,” Toni said.
”I understand. Can we meet?”
Tourists would be pouring out from the kitchen at any minute. ”Lunch, tomorrow,” Toni said. ”There's a pub at the bottom of the hill in the village. You can't miss it. Meet me there, say, one o'clock? And if anyone asks, I'll tell you frankly, I intend to lie. You're someone I met in the States.”
”I did see you do Queen Varina,” Darcy said with a smile. She glanced over her shoulder, aware they were going to be interrupted any moment. ”Please, don't stand me up. Honest to G.o.d, I think I can help you.”
”I'll be there,” Toni told her. ”But, please...”
”Good night,” the woman said calmly.
Her husband was the first one to return to the hall. He glanced at his wife, and she gave a slight nod. The man then offered Toni a quick smile, slipped his arm around his wife and started for the main door.
Toni turned and fled up the stairs as quickly as she could. She went for Bruce's door and then hesitated. She was the angry one! She backed away and went into her own room. She tapped at the bathroom door, but there was no answer, and the door to his bedroom was closed, also.
Turning away, she brushed her teeth, washed her face and found her nightgown. She hesitated again. She could just go in, but what if he was angry now?
She turned, went back to her own room and crawled beneath the sheets. Fear suddenly set in. What if the old Bruce, with his b.l.o.o.d.y dripping sword, appeared again tonight?
The solution was simple. She was going to go to bed, close her eyes and not open them again until morning.
But sleep didn't come easy. She spent the first minutes wis.h.i.+ng that Bruce would suddenly come into her room. And finally, she drifted off.
Then she awoke. Don't open your eyes, don't do it! she told herself. But she opened them anyway.
She expelled her breath with a sigh. The room was empty. And yet... there was a feeling in it, a feeling of... sadness?
She sat up, remembering that, just after she'd seen what had happened, she hadn't been afraid.
Though she couldn't see her visitor from the past, she still somehow felt him. And she just wasn't ready to deal with it.
She rose, walked into the bathroom, hesitated, then opened the door to his room. She walked to the foot of the bed, biting into her lower lip, trying to see in the deep shadows. He was probably sound asleep. Should she dare take the next step and just climb in next to him?
”Are you coming in here?”
His voice, out of the darkness, caused her to jump.
”Well, are you coming in, or do you just intend to spend the night there at the foot of the bed, staring at me?”
”I'm coming in,” she said. Her voice sounded ridiculously prim and sharp.
She crawled in, and his arms came around her.
”Toni--”
”No! Don't talk. Please don't talk!” she said.
”Toni--”
”Please!”
”Anyway you want it,” he whispered. And he, too, sounded ridiculous, sharp and cold, especially considering the way he held her.
*17*
The couple were already seated in a booth at the pub when Toni arrived, and the lithe blonde introduced Toni to her husband, Matt. It might have been just a lovely meeting of Americans in a foreign country, where even casual acquaintances could suddenly become best friends.
”So you're Toni,” the man said. And though the smile he offered her was warm and encouraging, she still didn't feel terribly a.s.sured.
”You saw Queen Varina, too?” she asked him.
He shrugged, looking at his wife with a half smile. ”I am the Southerner,” he said.
Toni shook her head. ”You both came to the show with Adam?”