CHAPTER 16

“Kergot called while you were in the shower. He wants to stop by this morning on his way to the school,” Liam told Dawn as she stepped out of the shower.

“Why?”

“He didn’t say,” Liam replied.

It had been a couple of weeks since they had closed on the property in the city center. The owners were relieved to get it off their hands and more than happy to sell it for bottom dollar. Liam had weighed what he could do himself with the help of some friends in the village and what he would have to pay to have done in order to meet local codes.

He had already poured himself into getting the place cleared out and framed up. Dawn admired his dedication and helped him out with everything she could work on, but they had done all they could do, and now it was in the hands of plumbers and electricians that would do their work before the finishing touches were added.

“Is all of the office equipment we need on order?” he asked as they sat eating their breakfast a few minutes later.

“Yes. I’ve checked the list, and we have all the basics we need. We will add other things as we build the business and need them, but we have the essentials on the way.”

“Thank goodness. I’ve been so busy with the building that I haven’t even checked on all that stuff. I’m so glad you are on top of it.”

“I am. What do you want to do today?”

“I need to go check on the work at the office this morning and make sure everyone turned up and is getting it done.”

“Why don’t I go with you, and then we can maybe venture out a bit more, maybe go over to the coast and walk along the water or do a little shopping in the city?”

“We still have so much to do,” he groaned.

“Liam, you’ve been working too hard. I know we need to get this done, but you don’t want to burn yourself out.”

“I’m not, Dawn. I just want to get this going. We still have so much to do to even get into the office. Neither of us have jobs other than the freelance work we are doing to tide us over while we build the formal business. Money is too tight.”

“Is that what has been bothering you lately? You’re worried about money? We still have plenty in savings.”

“We won’t when we are done chucking a good deal of it into this business, and then we still have a house to buy and a wedding to pay for. I’d like to get this going so we can focus on the other things.”

Dawn admired how Liam was always on top of things. He was completely organized. He never just did things by the seat of his pants like she was want to do. It was all planned out and kept on schedule. Even though she admired him for it, it could be maddening sometimes.

The doorbell rang, disrupting their discussion. Dawn went to answer it and found Kergot standing outside with a large box in his hands. She invited him in and offered him a seat in the den.

“Kergot! It’s good to see you. What brings you by? Penelope isn’t with you?” Liam asked him.

“No. She had to get to the school. I just came by to bring you this,” he said, motioning toward the box as he sat it on the coffee table.

“What is it?”

Kergot smiled broadly and opened up the box, pulling out a large wooden sign with an attached chain. He held it up for them to see.

Dawn looked at it, stunned. It was beautiful. There was a thin wooden frame around the edges that had a simple Celtic design carved into it. Inside that, on the left side, was a large dragon, breathing fire toward the center of the sign.

The fire opened up into a series of letters that spelled ‘Mourne Media,’ the name of their new company. It was intricately carved by hand and would look great hanging outside the new office. It suited the place so much better than a more commercial sign.

“I hope you like it. Your father told me the name of the company, and I thought that, even if it isn’t your main sign, it might be good to hang somewhere for decor,” Kergot told them.

“Oh, wow. No. We’ll hang it right out front,” Liam told him. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. It’s from myself and Penelope. I carved it by hand. It’s the least we could do after all you’ve done for us,” he said.

“It’s great. We love it,” Dawn told him, giving him a hug.

When she pulled away, she noticed something nearby had caught his eye. He walked toward it, picking it up and rolling it around in his hands.

“Where did you get this?”

“That? Oh, we’ve had it for years. Well, Liam has. We found it one day up at the quarry when we were still back in school.”

“The quarry? And you brought it home? Why?”

Dawn noted that he seemed uneasy, and as his thoughts came into focus, she realized why. Liam stood looking at him, puzzled.

“This bottle. The fluid that is in it. It is what the witch gave Penelope that took her flight and her fertility.”

“What? How is that possible? That was a very long time ago,” Liam replied.

“I don’t know. We took it to different people for years. Chemists, scientists, herbalists, spiritualist…anyone we thought might be able to tell us what it was and how to counteract it.”

“Are you sure it is the same bottle?” Liam asked.

“Yes. It is the one,” Kergot told him, turning it over and showing him a mark. “See that? It is the witch’s mark. All of her bottles carried it etched into the bottom of the glass.”

“And the liquid inside? Could it still be intact?” Liam asked curiously.

“I don’t know. We left it with an apothecary here in town to examine, and then Dawn fixed things. We just sort of forgot about it after that. I assumed he kept it to do some more tests.”

“Apothecary? You mean Harper Dinkins? He passed away last year, didn’t he? His family didn’t want a lot of the odd things he had in his labs. They probably tossed them out, along with your bottle. The dump isn’t far from the quarry, so maybe it migrated from one to the other.”

“Could be. Why did you keep it?”

“I don’t know. It was just a cool looking little bottle, and I pocketed it. It was in my stuff when we moved here, and Dawn thought it would look good on the shelf with the books.”

“Well, I certainly don’t want it back, and I know Penelope doesn’t, especially not the contents, if that is even still what was originally in it. I would use some heavy gloves, pour it out, and flush it well if you want to keep the glassware it is in.”

Kergot sat the bottle back down where he had found it and said his goodbyes. Liam walked him out as Dawn stood looking curiously at the bottle. After a few moments, she took it off the shelf and stuck it in a pocket. She was torn between a curiosity to know what was in it and a fear of what it could do. For now, she just wanted it out of her sight.

“That was a bit odd, huh?” Liam said as he returned.

“Yes. I put it away for now.”

“We need to do as he said and flush it, just in case.”

“We will. Now, about that trip into the city?”

“All right. You win. Let’s go check on things at the office, and then I’ll get you out of here for a bit.”

“You’re my hero!” she said, hugging him tightly.

“And you are mine,” he replied. “Now, let’s get going.”

Dawn kissed him and went to get her shoes on to leave. It might turn out to be a pretty wonderful day, after all.