“Well, that’s a coincidence,” Lily said quietly to herself.
“What?” Rose asked, tears in her eyes as she held her letter from Aunt Vonny tight in her right hand.
“Here, read this,” Lily answered, handing over her letter. She watched as Rose’s eyes flew from right to left as she read the letter.
“Okay? So?”
“I’m staying at the Culcreuch Castle while I’m gone,” Lily replied.
“Oh! I get it! Your ancestor lived in the castle where you’re going to be staying!”
“Exactly,” Lily answered, smiling. “Speaking of which, I need to get going.”
“Okay,” Rose said, giving her a hug. “Be safe, okay? And enjoy your vacation!”
“Oh, I will…I have an American Express with a $5,000 limit, and all the money I need to pay it off if I blow it on this trip!”
“Aw, yeah!” Rose said, laughing, “Now, get to the airport, before you’re late!”
“Okay, bye!” Lily said, shutting her door. She blew a kiss at her oldest friend, and backed out of her parking space.
Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling into the parking lot at the airport, only ten minutes before 5:00 p.m. She breezed through the security checkpoint (she wasn’t strip searched) and was among the first group to board the plane. Soon, the plane was leaving Daytona Beach and heading for Dublin where she would only have to catch a puddle jumper to Glasgow. Door to door, it was nearly a twenty-four hour journey, including the layovers.
When she finally arrived at the Culcreuch Castle in Fintry, she was in awe of the ancient structure and felt immediately drawn to the place, as if something about it was calling to her in the deepest recesses of her soul. With a strange feeling of déjà vu, Lily felt that she had been to this beautiful old building before, even though she had never before stepped foot in a country other than her American homeland.
Taking her suitcases and other travel bags from the back seat of the cab, she crossed the threshold of the medieval building. Setting her luggage down at the door of the castle, she approached the main desk, which was occupied by a portly, elderly female maître d'hôtel.
“What can I do for you, my dear?” the older woman asked in a fantastic Scottish accent.
“Hello, I have a reservation for Rey,” Lily said.
“Okay. Ray…and what’s his last name, my dear?”
“Oh no!” Lily answered, laughing, “Rey is my last name, R-E-Y.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, dearie!” the lady replied, mortified, “Please forgive me! We don’t often get American clientele, and I find it hard to understand…these old ears, you know!” she said with a light, breezy laugh.
“It’s not a problem at all, it happens back home all the time, Mrs…?”
“Stuart, dear. But you can call me Mammy…everyone does.”
“Okay, Mammy, thank you.”
“Now, Miss Rey, I have you reserved for the Battlements Room, but the reservation for the Seton of Gargunnock room was canceled, so I’ll let a pretty girl like you have it, if you want. It’s only £10 more.”
“Please, call me Lily,” she answered.
“Lily? What a beautiful name! Did you know that there is a legend about one of the ladies of this castle, and her name was Lily?”
“No, I did not,” Lily said, interested. “Could I hear it sometime? I’m just really tired right now from traveling…”
“Of course, dearie. So how about the Seton of Gargunnock room? I tell you what…it’s a bigger room, and I’ll give it to you for no extra charge, just because I love your pretty name.”
“Oh, yeah, sure…that would be great!” Lily said.
“Excellent, then. Here, I’ll have somebody show you to your room. Dinner is downstairs at 17:00, okay?”
“1700…that’s, what? Five o’clock, right?”
“Yes dearie, I keep forgetting that you Yanks use that silly twelve-hour clock, but to you, yes, five o’clock. Will you be making it down?”
Lily looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly 4:00 p.m., and responded, “No, Miss Mammy, I don’t believe I will. I’m very tired from the journey here, so I think I’m going to take a nap instead.”
“Okay dearie, if you wake up and decide that you are hungry, the kitchen is open until 21:00. Just knock, okay?”
“Thank you, Miss Mammy,” Lily answered as a young man appeared to take her baggage upstairs.
“Enjoy your nap, dearie,” Mammy responded. Lily followed the young baggage carrier up the steps on the far end of the room, fully taking in the sights as they went. He couldn’t have been a day older than sixteen.
“Seton of Gargunnock, righ’?” the muscle-bound young man grunted at her through a thick, Irish accent.
“Yes, sir,” Lily responded.
“Mammy tell you ‘bout the ghos’ in there?”
“No, but that’s okay…I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“Just ‘cause you don’t believe in somethin’ don’t meant it isn’t there,” the youth pointed out. “He tends to come out when somebody is staying in that room. He takes a likin’ to tha ladies, or so they say.”
“A ‘liking’ to the ladies that stay in there? What do you mean?”
“He ignores the men that stay there every so often, unless he’s with a lady. Screamed at one man for sleepin’ with tha lady that was with him, word is,” the boy said, grinning.
“You mean, the ghost yelled at the man for having sex with a woman?” Lily asked unabashed, “What did he say?”
“Tha’s right…and no one knows what he’s sayin,’ ‘cause he don’t speak no English. But seein’ as you are a pretty lady,” the lad pressed forward, his eyes raking Lily’s chest, her breasts barely concealed behind the halter top that she still wore. “You should be just fine.” The youth grinned, exposing rotten teeth with wide gaps between them. “Have a nice nap, beau’iful,” he said, dropping Lily’s luggage inside the door and leaving her behind, alone.
Lily turned away from the door that the bag-boy had just closed and saw the most beautiful room that she had ever laid eyes on. There was something about the simplistic nature of the beige walls and golden furniture that perfectly complemented one another. There was an elegant, antique vanity sitting beside the bed, and a window that opened and overlooked the front lawn of the castle and the Loch that was on the grounds, offering a spectacular view of hills in the distance.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, and lay back, falling into a deep sleep without removing any of her clothes.