Chapter 3: Episode Three: Laurel Cottage
March 6: 12 Days Before the Festival
Sunny opened her eyes and looked up at the paneled wood ceiling of her room. She felt rested and eager to start her day. She sat up and yawned and stretched. She could hear the activity going on downstairs and wondered what time it was.
"Good morning love!" Fiona stuck her head in and smiled warmly. "Sleep well?"
"I sure did!" Sunny declared. "I had the strangest dream too."
Fiona pushed the dividing door between their adjoining rooms open and leaned against the door jam. "What was it?"
"I dreamed that during the night you and this wonderful white-haired woman with bright green eyes came in to look at me where I was sleeping, and she said, 'Welcome home Siobhan'. She was magical-looking! All I could do was smile back and go back to sleep."
Fiona smiled. "Maybe it was your great-grandmum coming to welcome you home?"
"Maybe," Sunny replied. "It was such a wonderful dream though."
"Let's get some breakfast and then we'll be on our way," Fiona said turning away to reenter her room.
"What do we do today?" Sunny asked.
"Well, I've got a few stops to make before we go to the cottage," Fiona replied. "Nothing too strenuous, I promise."
Sunny set about getting dressed and repacked her cases. Sunny tucked her cell phone into her carry-all. Sunny resignedly sighed, all the pictures and information were still waiting for her, so she was not worried about losing any of her data. She and Fiona went downstairs and were warmly greeted by Cassie. "Good morning! I hope you slept well last night."
"I did!" Sunny replied. "In fact, I don't think I've ever slept so soundly in my whole life."
"She dreamt of her great grand-dam, Siobhan Dannan," Fiona said with a wink at Sunny. "That's a good omen I think."
Cassie's eyes grew wide. "Indeed, a good omen! I hope she was well pleased with her namesake."
"Oh yes," Fiona responded. "I'm quite sure she was."
Breakfast was oatmeal muffins, butter, and jam. Coffee, milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Sunny had a hearty appetite as did Fiona. When they were done, Cassie fixed up a basket with bread, cheese, and some grapes. "You'll probably get hungry on the road," Cassie told Sunny, "Knowing Fiona, she'll have scads of people to see before you get to Laurel Cottage."
"Aye," Piper declared as he stored a crockery urn with his dark beer under the front seat of the cart. "I'm placing a little refreshment to make the journey a little easier."
Sunny giggled as Piper handed her two glasses to put into Cassie's basket.
All of Sunny's bags were loaded up into another cart. Piper threw a canvas tarp over them and watched as a couple of teenage boys secured the trunks with rope. "I'll have the boys drop your luggage off at Laurel cottage."
Fiona nodded, "That's fine, leave everything in the hall."
The boys nodded and went back inside the tavern to finish their game of billiards. Fiona went up to speak to Miggs. "Miggsy we have a few stops to make before we go home."
Miggs' ears turned forward and bobbed her shaggy-manned head. Sunny came up beside Fiona, "So this is Miggs?" She looked at the red and white cob mare and smiled. "Hello Miggs," she said to the Vanner mare, "I've heard a lot about you from Aunt Fiona."
Miggs nickered and stretched her neck out toward Sunny. Sunny stroked the mare's nose and readjusted a lock of white mane that had fallen over one of Miggs' large brown eyes. "This is Siobhan," Fiona replied as if Miggs had spoken, "You remember me telling you about Sunny." Miggs simply eyed them both, her ears twitching as if in thought. Fiona heaved a sigh went to the driver's side of the cart and folded down the step. "Come on Sunny, she'll remember soon enough!" Sunny patted Miggs' well-muscled shoulder as she passed and climbed into the cart with Fiona following behind.
Fiona gathered up the reins and looked over at Piper and Cassie, "We'll see you soon," she and clucked her tongue, "On we go, Miggs!"
Sunny waved and called her farewells to the couple then turned to face forward. "Where are we going?"
"Well first we need to pay a visit to Lady Margaret," Fiona said, leaning forward, "You hear that Miggs? We need to stop by Thornegate."
Miggs tossed her head and moved into a trot. Fiona smiled over at Sunny, "Miggs likes the horses the young laird keeps!"
Sunny chuckled softly. "Who is the young laird?"
"Hugh O'Donnell," Fiona replied. "He was in military service for a number of years and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Royal Army. In the artillery or something of that sort; anyway, he was injured and came home."
"Injured?" Sunny asked, frowning at the thought.
"Hmm, yes." Fiona responded, "Shrapnel from a land mine I believe; messed his leg up a bit," Fiona replied.
"I'd imagine he's glad to be home and away from all that," Sunny replied.
"Doesn't say much about his army life," Fiona said, "But he's very much interested in his horses. As a matter of fact, he's breeding the finest Gypsy Cobs in Ireland, I'd say."
"Is Miggs a Gypsy Cob?" Sunny asked.
"She is indeed!" Fiona replied with a proud smile. "Though she's not one of Hugh's cobs. Miggs came from Tully."
"And Tully is a Gypsy," Sunny said, "He was the one they were talking about in the pub last night."
"Them!" Fiona snorted disparagingly, "Those old fools don't know what they're talking about! Tully is a fine man."
"When do you think I'll get to meet Tully?" Sunny wanted to know. "Does he visit often?"
Fiona's spurt of anger disappeared and was replaced with a fond smile. "Oh, he comes through every so often, he's due soon for a visit."
Within a few minutes, Fiona drew up the cart at a track that ran along a row of tall hedgerows. Along the other side of the track was a white fence that bordered a pasture with a line of slender Lombardy poplar trees running in a straight line as far as the eye could see. Miggs turned her head to glance back at Fiona and nickered questioningly. "Yes, Miggsy! On we go!"
"It's a lovely place," Sunny replied as she studied the play of light and shadow the trees threw over the dirt track. "I suppose Thornegate is a huge rambling estate?"
"You'll see," Fiona said. "It was built in 1794 I believe."
Sunny looked ahead watching as the scenery slipped past slowly revealing the rolling green pastures and admiring the contrast of dark and light as the sun filtered through the canopy of trees. White sheep were sprinkled over the grassy knolls and their bleating could be heard as the light breeze carried their voices to Sunny. The track ran straight for quite a while then began to curve as it climbed over a small hill. Fiona drew the cart up and pointed, "There it is Thornegate."
Sunny looked just over Miggs' head and perched in a sea of emerald, stood a stately Georgian manor. It was made of a dun-colored stone with various sizes of outbuildings situated conveniently nearby. Sunny grinned and looked at Fiona, "Oh, it's lovely! Like right out of a Jane Austen novel"
Fiona chuckled, "It's a rambling estate, some 250 acres of pasture, woods, and such."
As they sat admiring the estate, they heard hoofbeats first then spotted a rider on a brilliant dapple-grey Gypsy Cob. Fiona waved as the rider got closer and Fiona leaned toward Sunny, "That is Hugh O'Donnell."
The rider steered the stallion around and it arched its neck proudly picking up the heavily fringed feet as it came around parallel to the pasture fence. "Hullo!"
The stallion nodded its head up and down, the long thick mane kicking up like a cloud of white smoke. The rider slapped the well-muscled neck good-naturedly.
"Hello, Hugh!" Fiona called back, Miggs also bugled her greeting and Hugh laughed, "And a fine good morning to you, Danann, and you too Miggs!" Hugh reined his mount and trotted down to an opening in the fence. "On we go, Miggsy!" Fiona replied lifting the reins up slightly. Miggs did not need encouragement, she moved down the track to where Hugh and the dappled-grey stallion waited. Hugh leaned over and pulled the gate open, and it swung wide to let Miggs and the cart into the enclosed pasture.
Hugh latched the gate and moved his mount up alongside the cart nearest Fiona. "Mother's up in the tea garden, she's expecting you."
"Hugh, this is my great niece. Siobhan O'Neil."
Hugh turned his hazel-green eyes on her, and a slow smile grew on his face revealing even white teeth. "Sunny, I've heard so much about you from your Aunt Fiona that I feel I already know you."
Sunny smiled back, blushing prettily. The effect on Hugh was not wasted. He angled his mount back and around the cart to come up beside Sunny. He pulled his brown riding glove off his hand and leaned over. "Welcome to Thornegate."
Sunny took his hand. "Thank you, Your home is lovely."
The stallion nickered and stamped his foot, sending muscles rippling under the grey and white hide. "And this bold chap is Greystoke," Hugh said.
"He is magnificent!" Sunny said, "I'd love to draw him!"
Hugh leaned over and whispered conspiratorially behind his hand, "Don't make over him too much --- he's already got an impossible ego!"
Greystoke seemed to agree for he nodded his shaggy head up and down and pawed the green sod.
Fiona clucked to Miggs, and they headed toward the side of the manor house. "How is your mother, Hugh?"
Hugh tore his eyes from Sunny to look at Fiona. "Oh? Yes, mother is much better. Your special blends have been a Godsend."
"I've brought something a bit different; something that should bring her appetite back."
Hugh looked sad for a moment then looked to Sunny, "Mother is recuperating from chemotherapy, and the treatments nearly killed her."
His lips grew tight, and his face was strained. Sunny caught the look and pointed in the direction of the stables. "Aunt Fiona says you raise the finest horses in Ireland. I'd love to see them one day when you have the time."
Hugh shook his head as if to clear it and he smiled over at Sunny. "I think that would be a very good idea, Sunny. Do you ride?"
It was Sunny's turn to look sad then she shook her head. "I've been on horseback a few times, but not really enough to say I'm accomplished."
"Well," Hugh said brushing his sandy brown hair back from his forehead. "I shall have to remedy that as soon as possible."
Fiona drove the cart up into the courtyard. The horses' hooves clip-clopped over the cobblestones and echoed off the stone outbuildings, in front were the open double doors that led into the car garage, and off to the far left was a wide road that led to the stables. A young man trotted out of the garage where an older man was working on a tractor parked in the largest bay of the garage. He took hold of Greystoke's halter, slipping him a treat to occupy the big stallion while Hugh dismounted.
Sunny realized that she was staring at Hugh and turned her attention to Fiona who was looking into her satchel for the right packet and bottle. She took a tall slender amethyst-colored bottle out and put it into the pocket of her jacket. She then pulled a tiny brown paper sack that had been rolled and tied with twine from her satchel and put it in her skirt pocket and climbed down from the cart. Sunny followed suit turning to Hugh for direction. From somewhere nearby he produced a dark brown cane with a brass horse head and ruby jewel eyes. He tucked the cane close to his injured leg and moved over to let the boy lead Miggs to the shade of the paddock to graze.
Sunny walked over to stand near Hugh and reached up to stroke Greystoke's neck. "Up close he's even more majestic," she whispered softly, and the stallion lowered his head, turning his nose and the broad plane of his head toward her and breathed in her scent. "Looks like you've made a friend," Hugh murmured, and Sunny looked up at him, their eyes meeting.
It was a strange feeling that passed over Sunny, and she felt tears prick her eyes suddenly. Hugh was still wounded and vulnerable. She seemed to feel his anxiety and pain. Then she heard Jason's voice ringing in her ears, "Oh grow up, Sunny! Guys aren't the noble knights you think they are --- you turn on that wide-eyed look and they will eat you up and move on to the next little girl!"
Hugh cleared his throat and stepped away as the boy came to take Greystoke and tethered him to the post where he could easily graze on the tender grass.
Fiona did not miss the look between them. She looked bemused at the two of them and moved toward the gate that led to the tea garden. "Come children!" she called lightly.
Sunny had to laugh and that made Hugh chuckle. "Hardly children, Aunt Fiona!"
"When you get to be my age, everyone is a child!" Fiona replied. She opened the gate and held it for Sunny and Hugh. To Sunny, the tea garden was like the 'Secret Garden', with sweet-smelling herbs and roses that grew in well-tended beds. As they walked along the narrow brick path, Sunny ran her hands over the lavender that grew on either side.
Lady Margaret was sitting in the shade of a pergola with a twining rose climbing up and overhead. She sat in a comfortable glider rocking gently, eyes closed, and face turned up to the filtered sunlight.
"Good to see you taking my advice," Fiona called by way of greeting.
Lady Margaret was a slender woman with amazingly blue eyes that twinkled merrily as she spotted Fiona. "Oh, Fiona dear, I'm so glad to see you!" She looked past Fiona, "And you've brought your great niece; good!"
Fiona drew Sunny up beside her, "Lady Margaret, may I present Siobhan O'Neil."
Margaret reached her hands out to Sunny and drew her to sit on the glider beside her. "I'm so happy to meet you, my dear."
Sunny smiled warmly at Lady Margaret, glancing at Fiona. "Thank you, I've been made very welcome to Ballencoo."
Margaret looked to Hugh where he stood looking out of place. "Hugh, will you join us for some lemonade?"
Fiona shook her head, "No these children have plans to look over the stables, isn't that right Hugh?"
Hugh smiled lopsidedly at Fiona and then at his mother. "Aye, that's the way of it, Mother."
Margaret sighed and patted Sunny's hand, "Don't let Hugh keep you all to himself, come back and visit before you have to leave."
"I will," Sunny promised. She got up and smiled at Hugh, "Shall we?"
Hugh bowed, "After you milady."
Sunny grinned and moved up the path with Hugh following. When they reached the courtyard, she turned to him as he closed the gate. "I'm just going to collect my sketchbook."
"Have you been drawing a lot?" Hugh asked following her.
She reached the cart and rummaged through her duffle bag and found a new book, mentally deciding to only sketch Thornegate and the horses. She found her case of pencils and took two out, tucking one behind her ear for a reserve. "The last few semesters I didn't do any sketching and after graduation, I began again. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it."
"Fiona said you were going to begin working for an advertising agency in the States," Hugh said walking with Sunny toward the stables.
"I don't know now," Sunny replied. "All my plans sort of evaporated on me."
Hugh barked a bitter-sounding laugh. "I know what you mean. Never planned for an IED to make a mess of my leg and send Christine running back to Robert ---"
Sunny turned to Hugh as he broke off and stared at the ground. "Sorry, Sunny you don't want to hear my tale of woe."
"Seems like we've both come home to recover from the ---slings and arrows of our misfortune?" She said softly.
Hugh chuckled, the shadows of pain clearing from his eyes, "I'm glad you've come to Ballencoo, Sunny."
Together they strolled through the stables and looked in on a mare and her newborn colt. Sunny sketched and listened while Hugh explained his plans to raise more of the Gypsy Cob and Drum horses. "Does Tully come?" Sunny asked lightly.
"Aye," Hugh said leaning on the stable door and admiring the little black and white colt. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to my horses. He has a good way with them." He looked over at Sunny. "Why? You are hearing tales?"
Sunny nodded. "They were talking in the pub last night about the Gypsies."
Hugh frowned and moved away from the stall. "I wouldn't put much credence in what old sots say in a pub."
"No," Sunny said following him out into the sunshine of the paddock where several horses stood munching the sweet grass. "It's hard to believe that in this day and time, tales like that still circulate."
"Well, some of them are true," Hugh replied with a sigh, "But one bad apple doesn't necessarily spoil the whole barrel."
"Do the Gypsies still come here?" She asked.
Hugh smiled. "Potential subject matter for your pencils?" He asked.
Sunny laughed and nodded. "Well, the idea does call up the romance and mystery of a Gypsy caravan."
"Aye, they are a unique people," Hugh said. "Fine horse breeders. In fact, I plan to do a little horse trading when the caravan comes through in the next couple of weeks."
"During the festival?"
"Aye, they come in and set up camp for a week or two here on Thornegate, in Ballencoo wood, and around town."
"You mean the family lands between Ian McTavish and Aunt Fiona?" Sunny asked with a surprised look on her face. "I can't imagine that happening!"
Hugh angled a look of mock dismay at her. "Why Miss O'Neil with you belongin' to Tuatha de Dannan --- one of the oldest clans in all of Ireland – I find it hard tae believe you not knowin' about the Dannan pact!"
Sunny put her pencil behind her other ear and feigned outrage and her best Irish brogue, "Well do ye now, young laird? If that be true as yer sayin' I'm thinkin' you ought to be showin' proper respect!"
Hugh burst out laughing with Sunny giggling with him. Their laughter reached Fiona and Lady Margaret with the latter pressing a hand to her bosom in relief. "Oh Fiona, listen! It's a miracle!"
"Nae," Fiona responded smiling contentedly. "I believe that's the gift Sunny has that's all her own."
Margaret turned to Fiona a look of surprise on her face, "Do you think--?"
"That I cannot say," Fiona interrupted. "But she may return one day."
"Sunny, you know, you've been sketching madly there for some time," Hugh told her. "When are you going to let me see what you've been doing?"
She turned her head, first one way then the other in the appraisal of her work, then glanced up at him. "Well okay, I guess I can give you a look."
"Bless ye!" Hugh sighed with a glance heavenward. She handed the sketchbook over to him. "I don't think I caught the whole of it, but with a little tweaking --"
"I'd say it was genius to be able to do this from memory, Sunny!" Hugh said cutting her off. "This is wonderful!"
She smiled. "What do you think of your portrait?"
Hugh smiled at the sketch of himself. "He's a rather tense sort of bloke, but maybe he's got promise."
Sunny nodded, "Strong bone, proud stance and ----"
"You sound like you're describing a horse!" Hugh laughed; showing even white teeth then sobered as he met her clear green gaze with an almost defiant look. "And handsome?"
"Yes, Hugh O'Donnell," Sunny replied with an equally determined look on her face, "And handsome." A slow smile spread over his face as did a blush. He dipped his head into his shoulder to smother the foolish grin and cleared his throat. "Well now," he said as he gazed out over the paddock fence, "you won't be surprised if I come calling, will you Siobhan O'Neil?"
She laughed, feeling strangely empowered by the reaction she was having on this man. She had never felt in charge of herself and so self-confident as she did next to Hugh O'Donnell. Fiona appeared and waved. "Come m'dear, we've other stops to make!"
"Off to see Fiona's other patients?" Hugh murmured as they both looked toward the garden gate where Fiona waited.
"Patients?" Sunny repeated a slight frown knitting her brows together.
Hugh handed the sketchbook back to Sunny, "You didn't know?
"She called them customers, but it does make sense now," Sunny replied. Together they walked to the paddock where Miggs waited with the cart.
"Aye, Fiona travels all around the county tending to us." Hugh turned and whistled up to the grooms' apartments, "Mister Poole, our guests are leaving!"
The young boy poked his head out the door and waved that he was on his way down. A few seconds later he came bounding down the stairs and trotted over to collect Miggs and the cart.
Sunny handed her sketchbook to Fiona, "I'm just going to go tell Lady Margaret goodbye."
Fiona nodded and turned to Hugh. "You and Sunny get acquainted?"
Hugh watched Sunny disappear through the garden gate, leaned over to give Fiona a fond hug, and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Thank you."
She looked up at him and smiled. "Come see us Hugh, I'm sure Sunny will be glad to see you."
Sunny appeared at the gate and trotted over to the cart where Fiona and Hugh stood. Hugh pulled down the step and offered a hand to Fiona, who climbed up into the cart with Sunny following with Hugh's help. Fiona gathered up the reins, "On we go, Miggsy!"
"Bye!" Sunny called to Hugh, waving as the cart rolled away.
Hugh waved back with a huge grin on his face.
"She's a right pretty lady, ain't she, sir?"
Hugh looked over at Chris Poole and smiled. "She is, indeed, Mister Poole."
"Might be you've taken to the lady?" Chris Poole asked with a grin and a sly wink.
Hugh feigned a scowl and swung at the boy with his cane, only to be taken aback that he had left his cane back at the stable. He did not need it! The pain had somehow faded from his leg and back during his time with Sunny. Now that she was gone, the dull throbbing ache that was with him all the time began to seep back into the muscles of his thigh and calf.
"Get on with ye!" Hugh growled at Poole, "And fetch me cane!"
Poole chuckled good-naturedly and trotted off to find the cane.
Fiona made several more stops at cottages and Sunny was introduced to each man or woman along the way. Each time, a reference to Fiona's grandmother was mentioned, and how striking Sunny's resemblance was to the great woman. As they traveled back toward town and toward Laurel Cottage, Sunny asked about Siobhan Dannan. "Was grandmother a medicine woman like you Aunt Fiona?"
Fiona drew a deep breath and held it for a moment then smiled at Sunny as she released her breath. "Aye, she was a medicine woman as you say. It's an old tradition to have a village healer."
"Hugh said I – that we belonged to the --Tuatha de Dannan."
Fiona bit her bottom lip. That boy! She chuckled softly. "We're hardly a tribal kingdom anymore, but the Dannan clan is descended from the ancient people of Ireland."
"And the Dannan Pact?" Sunny asked.
"Hugh gave you a tour around some ancient history, did he?" Fiona asked with a light laugh.
Sunny chuckled. "Only in passing."
Fiona nodded. "Well as for the Dannan pact, there is an understanding with the chieftain of the Gypsies that have been traveling to Ballencoo since time immemorial," Fiona explained. "They come twice; sometimes three times a year to trade, visit, settle debts and disagreements, make marriage contracts, and the like. Thornegate was an ancient meeting place --- been for hundreds and hundreds of years. The owners of Thornegate struck a deal with the Gypsies, that for as long as the sun rose and set, they would have a place to meet."
"And the Ballencoo Wood?"
"The chieftain and his descendants are forever reserved a place of rest from their travels in Ballencoo Wood, but only those who follow the old way," Fiona said.
Miggs picked up her step as they headed toward a grey stone bridge. "Make a wish m'dear!" Fiona told her. "We're about to cross the Trickle!"
The cart rattled over the stones and Miggs' hooves clattered hollowly over the dirt-covered track. Sunny closed her eyes and made a wish; that all the sadness would disappear like clouds on a summer day.
Whether it was real or imagined, Sunny felt the shadows of sadness in her heart lift and drift away and she felt happy. Fiona seemed to follow her thoughts and smiled. "Welcome home!"
Sunny breathed in the warm softness of the earth and smiled. "I do feel at home, it's such a happy feeling!"
Fiona lifted the reins, "On we go, Miggsy!"
Miggs tossed her shaggy head and picked up her step and they rolled down the road toward Laurel Cottage.
Sunny smiled up into the covering canopy of trees and for a moment thought she saw something running along the limbs of the oak and fir trees. She blinked and looked back over her shoulder as they passed under the overhanging limbs. "Aunt Fiona ---."
Fiona glanced upwards and then lifted the reins a bit higher to urge Miggs to quicken her gait, "Oh there are all kinds of animals running about the wood," Fiona replied. "Squirrels as big as can be!"
Sunny frowned up into the trees and then shook away the notion that she had seen creatures resembling odd-looking spider monkeys swinging through the branches of the trees.
They rode on and the road curved and revealed Laurel Cottage. The house was not technically a 'cottage' but a rather large two-story stone and white lime plaster structure house with a bright blue door that glittered out from the dark mossy green stone alcove. The ivy all but covered the lower part of the house on one side with the graceful canes of sweet-smelling roses climbing around the entrance. There were bright blue flowerboxes with bright tumbling yellow and orange flowers sitting below the large leaded glass windows. There were two smaller wings of the cottage that sprouted out from either side of the main house. They rode through the flowering vine-covered arched gate and into the cobblestone courtyard. Miggs headed toward her stable and came to a stop at the water trough, dipping her head down to sip the water.
"Well, here we are!" announced Fiona. "Let's go in and have a bite, shall we?"
"Should we do something with Miggs?" Sunny asked looking at the horse.
"I'll come out shortly and settle Miggsy," Fiona said with a wave of her hand, "Let's get inside and I'll show you around the place."
Fiona apparently didn't feel the need to lock her house and simply opened the blue door and stepped in with Sunny following behind her with two of her bags.
There was a small entrance hall with a hall tree to hang scarves and coats. Stacked neatly were Sunny's trunks and luggage. "Good, the boys delivered your things," Fiona replied, "I think we can take what you need upstairs and store the rest under the stairs."
Sunny looked to the right and looked in on the parlor. There were comfortable chairs and tables with oil lamps sitting in several spots. The house smelled clean like cedar and lavender. There were large panel doors that opened to a dining room, and the room beyond the parlor was a library and study filled with books along three sides of the room. The kitchen was behind the dining room and was large and airy with stone counters made of natural granite. Back in the main entrance, the stairs led up to the second floor.
Sunny pointed to the door on the left of the cottage entrance. "What's through that door?
Fiona looked at the big wooden door and nodded. "Come I'll show you," Fiona said leading to the left side of the house. She opened the door and stepped back for Sunny to go in before her.
Sunny stepped into a small alcove and then stepped into the large room. "Oh my!" Sunny exclaimed. There was a stone top worktable in the center of the room with a variety of mortars and pestles in marble of various colors and sizes. Hanging in the rafters on hooks were bundles of drying herbs and plants. Along the shelves on two walls from floor to ceiling were all sorts of sizes of white crockery jars with hinged lids and dark blue and red glass bottles with corks and beeswax sealing their lids. It was an extensive apothecary! On a shelf that extended from wall to wall were dozens and dozens of thick leather-bound books with Roman numerals printed on their spines.
"My goodness!" Sunny whispered in awe, "This is fantastic, Aunt Fiona!"
Fiona looked around the room, her eyes resting on various items on the shelves and worktables. "For generations, the Dannans have been mixing and dispensing medicines to the folk in the area around Ballencoo," Fiona replied. She looked around the room. Her eyes fell on all the objects in the room before she looked again at Sunny. "You called me earlier a medicine woman," Fiona replied sitting on the stool across from Sunny. She put her hands on the worktable and absently touched and straightened the pestles where they sat in their mortars so that they all lined up in the same direction. "Well, the Dannan women have been healers for many, many generations. In the ancient days, they were called wise women, called; 'Cailleach feasa' to the outsiders; 'witches'."
"Witches?" Sunny repeated. "Really?"
"Aye," Fiona answered with a frown of disapproval. "It's the first thing most people think of ---those idiots running around naked in a circle on high feasts and holy days!"
Sunny laughed nervously at the images her own imagination conjured up. "No broomsticks and black cats I trust?"
"A broom to sweep the floor and a cat or two to keep the mice out of my pantry and garden shed," Fiona remarked then turned and reached for a leather book and handed it over to Sunny. "Each of us has kept meticulous records of illness and cures, new plants and new mutations to disease and new cures."
Sunny opened the book toward the center and was amazed at the detail on the yellowed pages. There were botanical drawings and detailed notations along with what looked like recipes for medicines. "Where is your journal, Aunt Fiona?"
Fiona took one of the last journals off the shelf and handed it to Sunny. When she opened it, she found similar entries, drawings, and notations of plants and names of people she was dispensing medicine to. The drawings were quite good, and she angled a look up at Fiona. "These are wonderful! You never said anything about your own drawing skills!"
"Nae," Fiona answered.
"All this," Sunny said raising her hand to indicate the apothecary, "Is the reason why Mama kept what you do such a secret?
"She wasn't easy about having you come here," Fiona answered. "But you were so upset by Jason -"
Sunny held up a restraining hand to prevent Fiona from continuing, "Yes, I know, and I get all that – Mama's been tiptoeing around something for years, and even after everything that's happened – she ups and changes her mind and it's suddenly okay for me to be here with you."
Fiona looked into Sunny's eyes for a long time then nodded slowly but did not elaborate further and pressed her lips together in a tight line and laced her hands together just as tight.
Sunny sighed heavily and lowered her head to stare at her own hands that were clenched together in white-knuckled fists. "I know; Mama made you promise."
"Aye," Fiona whispered.
Sunny nodded completely disgruntled with her mother and Fiona. She drew in the minty sweet smell of the apothecary and expelled a great sigh. "Okay, I'm not going to press you," she then gave her great-aunt a sly look, "Any other secrets I should know about?"
"Oh aye," Fiona responded solemnly. "There's all manner of secrets locked away in my heart."
That made Sunny laugh and Fiona smiled. "For another day, perhaps," She took the journals and placed them back in their slots on the shelf. "Let's get you settled in and have a bite to eat! I'm hungry!"
Fiona took Sunny upstairs and showed her to her room. It was a bright sunny room with high, white-washed plaster ceilings and dark heavy exposed beams. With a few trips, Sunny soon had all her smaller bags upstairs in her room and the contents of her trunk in her bedroom. As put away her clothes in the closet and stored other shirts and undergarments in the chest of drawers she listened to Fiona downstairs in the kitchen humming softly to herself and making the normal noises of food being prepared.
Sunny sat on the bed and looked around. She drew up her carryall and pulled her cell phone out. She tried to turn it on, and it was completely dead. She looked around the wall and saw there were no electrical outlets anywhere! She looked out into the hallway and spotted an oil lamp sitting on the table at the top of the stairs. In fact, she had not seen any electrical outlets or lamps anywhere in the house. She wondered how she would be able to read or draw in the evening hours.
When the kettle began to whistle Sunny abandoned her unpacking and went down to the kitchen. They ate the food Cassie had packed and Fiona added a few things to the meal including sliced cucumbers and crisp lettuce. They ate in the kitchen where the conversation soon returned to Sunny's mother.
"Did you and Mama ever try to talk about the ---you know – all of this?"
Fiona stirred her tea slowly as she added milk from a small cow-shaped pitcher. How was she to answer? As she was debating on a way to dissemble, she looked over at Sunny and decided against it, "I tried to talk to her when she came home when Colleen passed away, but she was too upset to hear anything I had to say. I guess we were too upset about losing Colleen, so neither one of us could really talk."
"The distance between you two is more than just logistics," Sunny murmured with a frown creasing her brow. She looked back up at Fiona and grinned. "But I'm glad she never stopped me from getting to know you."
Fiona nodded. "Me too. I am really all the family Maire and her sisters have as far as family goes. I never got to know Erin or Brianna as I wanted. It might have been different, but Colleen was determined to keep them well away from here and this life."
Sunny looked around, not understanding at all why her mother or aunts would not want to see where their family came from. "Did grandmother ever come home once she left?" Sunny wanted to know.
"Aye, many times," Fiona said. "But she would never remain too long." Fiona began gathering up the cups. The conversation was at an end.
Sunny studied Fiona and saw the tension in the woman. "Okay, Aunt Fiona; truce –for now."
"Bless ye, child," Fiona replied.
"I'm going to finish unpacking," Sunny replied. "Then why don't you let me do a few sketches of you?"
"Let's go into the garden," Fiona said, "The light is good out there in the late afternoon."
Sunny smiled and went upstairs.
Fiona began washing the few dishes in the sink and glanced out the window to spot a small figure standing in the shadows perched on a low tree limb. "For heaven's sake, don't let her see you!" Fiona whispered softly. "She already has more questions than I care to deal with right now if she does!"
Like a wisp of smoke, the figure seemed to fade away. Fiona drew a sigh of relief and went back to washing the dishes.
Fiona sat reading a book of sonnets in the soft afternoon sunlight that filtered through the trees as Sunny busily worked in her sketchbook. Completely absorbed in her work she didn't notice the presence of wildlife in the garden until Fiona whispered to her. "Sunny, look there – a vixen and her kits."
Sunny paused and slowly turned her head to the direction Fiona nodded and saw the bright red fox and three miniature versions of the adult step out into the open yard of the garden. The vixen regarded the humans and then softly barked to her kits that rolled and tumbled playfully with one another. They moved on across the yard and back into the forest.
"That's why I keep my chickens in a coop," Fiona remarked. "I'd not have one chicken if I let them range in the open."
"Maybe that's what happened to those pullets they were talking about in the tavern?" Sunny replied studying the spot where the foxes had disappeared.
"Could be," Fiona replied, then she pointed to Sunny's sketchbook. "When can I see what you've been working on?"
Sunny tucked her sketch pencil behind her ear and turned the page toward Fiona. "What do you think?"
Fiona gasped, with just a few sketching pencils Sunny had created what looked like a black and white photograph – so realistic she thought the portrait of herself might move any second. "Amazing!"
Sunny grinned. "Thanks, Aunt Fiona – I've missed this part of my art a lot. I'm happy that I can devote my time to brushing up on the skills."
Fiona smiled. "I always knew you were going to be an artist."
"Really?"
"Aye," Fiona replied. "I'll have to find my box of your drawings. I've kept every one of them."
"Wow," Sunny murmured. "Every one of them, huh?"
"Your namesake – my mother – was quite the artist too," Fiona said. "You can see some of her drawings in her journals."
"You know I'm going to have to pull my weight around here," Sunny told her. "What sort of things could I help you with?" Sunny asked folding her sketchbook up and storing her pencils in the metal tin case.
"Well with it being spring, there are several plants and the like that need harvesting." Fiona said, "Plenty of preparations to make for the coming ailments. They come to me to treat the animals too."
"So, you're the vet and the doctor in these parts?"
"Aye," Fiona said. "Not many will seek out an outside doctor or veterinary."
"Except Lady Margaret," Sunny said. "Why did they go outside Ballencoo?"
"It was Hugh who urged his mother to see an outside physician," Fiona said. "She went for his sake."
"He seemed to have a change of heart with respect to his opinion of doctors," Sunny said. "I could see it in his face when he talked about the chemotherapy treatments."
"Hugh was a little like Colleen – not wanting to take on the responsibilities of his family," Fiona said.
Sunny heard the edge of disapproval in Fiona's voice as she spoke. She could not find fault in the woman's assessment, but she felt her disapproval extended further than to just Colleen. "What happened?" Sunny asked.
"He left home and stayed away for a long time, but after his accident and his mother's illness, he is seeing life in a whole new way. He has an appreciation for life he did not have before."
"Was Christine from Ballencoo?" Sunny asked.
"Christine?" Fiona shook her head. "Heavens no, Christine was from London, worlds away from Hugh and his life at Thornegate."
"She hurt him deeply," Sunny murmured softly, "I could feel it." She sat forward and leaned to stare at the toes of her sneakers. As she studied the miniature world, she caught the enticing smell of the warm earth and the sweetness of the grass that grew beneath her feet. The blades of grass were so green that it felt like it was pulling her into the color.
Fiona studied Sunny closely for a moment before she continued; something had shifted in the young woman as she sat there. "Hugh tried to be someone he wasn't," Fiona replied. "When he found Christine, he was trying to live in a reality he had manufactured for himself. He had changed himself on the outside to blend in – in the hopes he would blend in with the people he surrounded himself with. Hugh changed his philosophy, his morals, his ideals; everything to fit in. It was contrary to everything he truly was. He was willing to give himself up to fit in the world Christine lived in. When he stepped on that bomb it shattered more than his leg – it shattered the world Hugh was living in."
"Sounds like he came to his senses," Sunny murmured.
Fiona leaned forward, sensing the sudden change in Sunny. "Aye, the truth had always been there, Hugh was just not willing to see it the way it was --- had he been honest with himself – he would have seen the truth."
Tears welled in Sunny's eyes blurring the wondrous green of the grass that held her enthralled. A single tear clung trembling in her eyelashes then as she closed her eyes it fell to the ground, landing on a blade of grass like a droplet of dew.
Whatever Fiona was expecting passed and Sunny wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked up at Fiona, "I know exactly how Hugh feels, and I know Mama and Daddy's worried about me, but when I speak to them again, I'm going tell them that I'm going to be all right."
"You've found forgiveness?" Fiona asked.
"Oh, it'll be a long time before I can forget what Maya and Jason did," Sunny replied. "And I am trying to move on. Hugh's got to do that too – I think he's begun to heal by throwing himself into his horses. I've got to do the same thing – coming here is going to help me heal and move into my own destiny."
Fiona felt her heart lurch with a kind of horrible resolution. Sunny looked up at Fiona and she smiled at her great-great niece. "Good girl!"
Sunny was in her room putting away the rest of her clothes when Fiona arrived with a lamp. "Thought I'd bring you a lamp light before it gets too dark," Fiona said, "the place is a wee bit dark once the sun sets."
Sunny paused in her sorting through her socks and joined Fiona at the door. Fiona smiled and pointed out in the hallway. The lamp at the top of the stairs was burning and it threw a nice golden glow along the balcony. "This smaller one you can place next to your bed," Fiona said, she angled the round mirrored plate toward the flame, and it made the room bright enough to read by. "Just turn the key and that snuffs out the flame."
Sunny nodded, then pointed to the nightstand where her cell phone sat. "You know, I have a battery pack to charge my cell phone, but they just don't work."
Fiona made a face. "I'm sorry m'dear, but most electronic things don't seem to work this far in the woods. That's why I never bothered to put in modern wiring."
Sunny picked up the cell phone and looked at its dark screen then at Fiona. "Well, it doesn't matter – it's really not all that important. I can live without this."
"Well, when you do need to contact the outside world, you can try the library. Erin Corrigan will help you." Fiona replied, "The library is the one place that attempts to keep up with your kind of technology."
Where's the library anyway?" Sunny asked. "I'd like to send an email to the reference librarian who helped me order the books on Ireland for me."
"It's one street over from Cluny's," Fiona said. "Right next to the post office, which reminds me, I haven't been in to collect the post in a while."
"Maybe the next time you go into town," Sunny said, "I'll go and just wander around and soak up the town."
Fiona nodded, "And maybe see if the Gypsies have arrived?"
Sunny laughed. "No flies on you! Yes, I'd love to sketch them and maybe the caravans."
"They're a mite particular about letting folks get in too close," Fiona replied. "Most of the time, with good reason."
"I'll be respectful," Sunny replied.
"Aye, I know," Fiona answered. She paused to glance at her reflection in the dressing mirror in Sunny's room and tucked a strand of hair back into place. "Time for my bath. I'll stop by before I go to bed, then you can bathe. Everything is there for you, dearie!"
Sunny nodded and watched Fiona walk down the hall and disappear behind the bathroom door. She heard the water being drawn and Fiona humming softly. She finished up her unpacking and examined the last few things her mother had packed for her. In a brown paper bag with white ribbon handles was a package of her favorite gingersnap cookies, a bag of peppermints, and a package of Hershey's Kisses. There were several packages of drawing pencils and Sunny took those and placed them in her backpack along with her other drawing materials.
The cookies and candy were stored in the trunk at the foot of her bed. She was about to close it when she decided to store her digital camera and her smartphone safely away in the bottom partition of the trunk. As she closed the trunk and secured the latches, she felt suddenly free.
Fiona passed by Sunny's bedroom on her way to her own room, she was carrying a small oil lamp and had a book tucked under her arm. "I'll see you in the morning, Good night Sunny."
"G'night Aunt Fiona, sweet dreams," Sunny called to her great aunt, then she collected her small oil lamp and padded down to the bathroom to bathe. She drew up a nice warm bath and sank down into the soothing lavender-scented water, closed her eyes, let the day soak in, and began to let the past slip away into the evening.
She dressed in a set of pajamas and padded down the hall to her bedroom with her little lamp held at shoulder level to cast the yellow beam of light ahead of her. It illuminated her room and she set it on the side table. She was too tired to even read or draw, so she turned the oil lamp key, and the flame was snuffed out. Sunny lay under the sheet and a light blanket and stared at the ceiling. The scent of lavender and cedar sent her to sleep, and she dreamed of deep green fields and a soft pink pearl moon that rose along with a larger violet moon. It was beautiful!
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