5.
The room was bright and light but it was not her own. The bed was small, not the oversized king mattress that she was used to at home. There were light blue curtains hung at a small window and as she tried to sit up, something pulled her back. There was a plastic tube stuck into her arm and that in turn was attached to drip of saline fluid hung on a metallic stand next to her bed. She was in hospital.
Andrea’s mind was foggy as she tried to understand where she was and more importantly why she was here?
A nurse in a blue uniform stepped into the room and she attempted to call her over, yet her mouth was dry and her tongue seemed swollen and bloated in her mouth.
The nurse glided over to her bedside in a calm and no-nonsense manner, reaching out instinctively for her wrist and feeling the pulse.
“It’s good to see you back with us Andrea. Now, can you hear me? You’ve been a lucky girl. It’s a good job that man of yours brought you straight here or it might have been too late to save the baby, let alone you”.
Andrea could feel the tug of the tube in her arm as she struggled once more to sit up.
“Now it’s OK, you’ve been through a lot. It’s advisable for a woman in your condition not to eat shellfish. Paralytic poisoning can kill quite easily; you’ve had a lucky escape there. Now you’re awake I’m going to fetch the doctor. I’m afraid you’ve just missed your husband, he sat with you all night but had to leave, some business, but he promised to back as soon as he could. We will put a call out to him; tell him that you’re back with us”.
Her knight in shining armor; it hardly sounded like Steve.
Her memories returned from the evening before. There had been a platter of oysters and king prawns to accompany a glass of champagne before the main meal was served. She wasn’t an oyster fan, but finding her appetite she had tucked into the plump, pink flesh. They had tasted delicious and she couldn’t imagine that they had been anything but fresh and sourced from the finest fishmonger. Besides, she had seen Steve tuck in too; if something had been wrong then surely he would be in hospital with her? And then there was Helen of course. An image of the green cat like eyes looking down at her formed in her head. Helen had poisoned her again, only this time she had nearly died.
The nurse returned with a young looking doctor who started to examine her and ask questions. Once again he confirmed that she was lucky to be alive; the baby too. So it was true, she was actually pregnant. Before leaving he handed her a glass of water and two small tablets; sedatives to help her sleep.
Drowsy from the medication she closed her eyes. She could hardly think straight and willed herself to stay awake. Helen was trying to kill her, and for all she knew Steve was in on it too, though God knows why, all he had to do was leave her. She could not trust him and could not tell him her fears. Anyhow, he would only deny it and say she was crazy, unwell. Andrea trawled her mind for reasons why Helen would want her dead and all roads led to the rune that she had hidden in her bedroom; but why? The thoughts whirled through her head until she was exhausted, and half drugged she fell into a dark and heavy sleep.
A light touch on the arm caused her to stir. Andrea opened her eyes to see the nurse smiling down at her.
“Sorry to wake you Andrea, but your Grandmother’s here to see you. I thought it might do you good to see her. She does look rather concerned”.
For a moment Andrea thought she was still asleep, half dreaming at least. Although still under the influence of medication, she knew for certain that her Grandmother Betty was dead; she had been at the funeral less than a month ago. It was her Grandmother that had left her the rune in her will; had started her on this strange and perilous journey.
As the nurse helped her to a sitting position she could see a white haired old lady walking towards her. She recognized the kind and smiling face at once; it wasn’t her Grandmother, it was Geraldine.
The last time she had seen Geraldine she had been ill; this seemed to be becoming a habit.
Geraldine had been in the little graveyard on the Isle of Iona back in Scotland and had come to her rescue then.
The sight of the kind old woman almost made her cry. They had only met the once but it seemed as if Andrea had known her a lifetime and as the small figure approached her an enormous wave of relief washed over her to the extent that she started to sob.
"My dear, don't fret yourself. I'm here now. No need to worry."
Her words were as soothing as a mother’s to an errant child, and the tears fell into loud and audible sobs.
A thin, warm hand reached across and found hers. It was soft and warm and felt surprisingly strong for a frail old lady - Geraldine seemed anything but.
"You have come a long way my dear and I'm afraid that your journey has a long way to go yet, that's why I'm here to help you."
Andrea peered at the kindly face through her tears. Nothing of what she was saying seemed to make any sense.
"I thought you were in Scotland. How did you find me?" Andrea had many questions and she wondered whether or not Geraldine was actually real or just another figment of her medicated mind.
“I knew there was danger and I followed you across the water. I saw the advertisement for the Ancient Relics exhibition and saw the photograph of the rune. It wasn't hard to track you down once I had located Helena."
"Helena?"
"Helen, Helena, it's all the same."
Geraldine wasn't making sense but the rune seemed once again at the heart of a mystery that she could not quite grasp.
"I know you are still recovering my dear but I need to tell you something, something of your past. Sometimes one can forget the experience - travel can play tricks on the mind."
"Experience, what do you mean?" Andrea could feel her heart start to thump. She wanted to sleep, maybe she was already dreaming, but Geraldine kept her attention.
"My dear, you and I have known each other in the past."
"Yes, I remember. I fainted in the cemetery of St Oran chapel on Iona and you helped me."
"That is true, but that was not the first time we met."
"I had seen you in the hotel at breakfast."
"Yes, but that was not the first time we met either. We first met in the year 1644. You arrived on Iona, shall we say, unexpectedly, where you met Alexhander MacDonald."
The name caused a shiver to run through her body and despite her drowsiness Andrea attempted to sit up.
"But that's impossible."
“Yet you remember Alex hmmm? One never forgets one’s own true love."
The picture of Alex MacDonald was now clear in her mind, as clear and sharp as if she had seen him only yesterday.
"But 1644...."
"It seems impossible doesn't it? But with the power of the rune everything's possible. You will find now that I am here you will start to remember more, all those memories your brain has pushed to one side as impossible.”
Suddenly Andrea had an image of a small yet cozy room, stone walls and a fire in a grate. The nunnery on Iona - she had lived there, but in another time. It didn't make sense but she knew it was so.
"But how?"
Geraldine squeezed her hand.
"Your grandmother was the one. She was from a long line of MacDonald’s and the secret of the ancients had been lost until she stumbled across it as a young girl. Her aunt had died, an elderly and eccentric old lady, and left her entire estate to the young Elizabeth, your grandma Betty. Amongst her possessions was an old carved stone and a map of the old chapel at Iona. There had been journals too, written in a long and looping handwriting containing tales of another land, another place, a shift in time. Betty had been intrigued and as a young woman had travelled to Iona and visited the chapel and the graveyard for herself. She had taken the rune to the site of an old grave and had somehow found herself transported to another time. She breathed life into the dying form of a young woman; Andra, a good force nearly extinguished by an evil one."
"Helena!" The memories had begun to flood back and the beautiful, yet evil face flooded her thoughts.
"That is right, Helena, the sister of Alexhander MacDonald. She had acquired the knowledge of the ancients at an early age and wanted to use it for evil purposes. She had visions of ruling the kingdom with her beloved brother. The powers had turned her half insane yet luckily her power was not absolute, not without the two rune stones."
"I have one of the rune stones."
"That is right, and that is also why you are in grave danger, why you lie here in hospital today. Helena will do anything to get that stone.”
"Helen!"
The realization suddenly dawned on Andrea. That is why Helen had seemed so familiar, that beautiful yet cruel face, she had met her back in time.
"Helena was jealous of the love her brother had for you. Her brother is all she has and she was determined to destroy you. When she knew you were carrying his child her one thought was to kill you. She had tried many times and Andra had faced death several times in her young lifetime. As a young girl Andra had originally come over to Iona from the mainland to be taught by the nuns. All her family were killed in the great siege of the Highlands and Alex became her guardian, yet as she turned into a beautiful young woman he fell in love with her and their romance blossomed. Helena was so jealous she tried to poison the girl on many occasions. Through the power of the ancients and your families strong blood line, you, your grandmother and others in the female line have stepped in to save her, to save yourselves and protect the ancient powers from falling into evil hands."
"But how, and why us?"
"The powers of the ancients are the oldest known to man. It is said that the great Gods themselves forged the rune stones. Several keepers, daughters of the stones, were elected and that responsibility has been passed on from generation to generation, mother to daughter, or in your case from grandmother to granddaughter; only the chosen ones could take on the responsibility.
One of the stones was placed in the safe keeping of the ancient MacDonald clan, the other to the ancestors of Andra, your people. The ancient writings foretell a time when the stones will be re-united. Andra had a rune, Helena the other and ambitions to claim both. When the girl would not relinquish the stone, Helena attempted to kill her. Ending her life would serve two purposes, bringing the runes together and bringing her brother back to her and her alone. The runes transported you and your ancestors back in time, to the exact point of Andra's certain death, to breath your life back into her, to allow the continuation of life; death and birth, the continuation of life. Some religions call it re-incarnation."
Andrea was staring at Geraldine.
It was a crazy story that she could barely believe, yet she could remember, she had been there, and as ridiculous as it sounded she knew these people, these places. She was Andra in another time.
Still it didn't make sense. The whole concept was ridiculous! Andrea furrowed her brow,
“But how is it possible that I can save my ancestor from the past? Surely if Andra died then I wouldn't even have been born?"
Geraldine smiled gently and brushed back a stray wisp of grey hair that had fallen loose from her neatly clipped hair.
"Time is not linear Andrea, and the powers and laws of the Universe are little understood by modern man. I am but a guide to help you through that transition and to protect you."
Andrea looked into the kindly face. There had always been something familiar about the face but she could not place it.
"You don't remember me do you? I may look a little different, a little older perhaps?"
The twinkling eyes shone in her memory. Back to a much younger face - the young nun who had cared for her on Iona - of course, Andrea’s eyes lit with recognition.
"That's right. Of course I am much younger back there. When we travel we embody the closest of our familiar line and that can be any age."
Closing her eyes the memories came flooding back to Andrea. The past so real she could almost touch it.
"But you are in grave danger my dear. Helena is after the rune and she will not stop until she has it. Alex MacDonald has been mortally wounded and lies dying. His only hope of salvation is to travel to the future, to live once again. Helena needs two runes to bring herself and Alex forward to this time and have total power. Helen is a direct descendant and will travel back with the two stones unless we can stop her."
"But how can we?"
"You must hand over your rune to me and I will take it back to Iona today. You must discharge yourself and follow me. We must travel separately to be safe but you must return to Iona as soon as possible. Andra is still dying, from the same moment you were transported back to the future. Time is continuous, like a permanent loop that we travel in. It will be safer for the child that way."
Andrea’s hands immediately swept to her stomach. "Child?"
"You are carrying Alexhander’s child and it must be born in its own time; a daughter to carry on the line, one that will reunite the two runes and the powers of the ancients will be restored."
The pregnancy; she had been right all along about the dates, had known deep inside that the child could not be Steve’s.
"But what about Alex, you said he was dying?"
'That is in the future, or more accurately in your past. You must travel back and live out many years with Alex and then what has been foretold will be."
"But surely if all of this has been foretold we don't have to worry; everything will turn out alright in the end?"
For the first time Geraldine's blue eyes looked serious."Nothing is written in tablets of stone Andrea. The Universe has a way of righting wrongs, but that can take centuries and a lot of damage and suffering can happen in between. I have seen two versions of the future and one of them you would not wish upon this old, tired world. We must not fail. Now tell me, where is the stone?"
The whereabouts of the old teddy bear were soon given to Geraldine. The old woman assured her that breaking into the flat to obtain the rune would be the least of her problems.
"Helen will soon sense that I am here and will do everything she can to stop me. I am hoping by then it will be too late and I will be flying back to England. I do possess a small amount of power myself but I can only hold Helen at bay for a short time. That is why you must discharge yourself as soon as possible. Don't worry, I will help you there also, the matron won't be a problem. I have a travel ticket already booked for you on the 16:00 flight today. Soon after that Helen will be on our path and she will certainly pursue you back in time."
"Can we not travel together?"
"It's safer this way, just in case something happens."
Leaving a small envelope on the bedside table, Geraldine bent forward and kissed her forehead before smiling and leaving the room.
Alone once again Andrea laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. It was like a strange dream, maybe it was the medication and Geraldine was a mere figment of her imagination? Opening her eyes she glanced at the bedside table. The white envelope was still there; that was definitely real.
6. The flight back to London had been trouble-free yet Andrea could not settle and stayed awake the whole flight, afraid that something might happen; forever looking over her shoulder for Helen.
Geraldine had been right about the hospital. It had been easy to discharge herself, as if some kind of spell had been cast over the entire hospital staff. She had rushed home to pack a few things. Steve was nowhere in sight and had obviously not slept there, he had been with Helen no doubt. The bear had vanished. Geraldine had obviously been successful in her mission. All had gone well so far yet a nagging fear hung over her.
It was with some relief when the plane set down at Heathrow airport and she was soon on a train heading North for Scotland.
When she switched on her mobile there were countless missed calls, all from Steve. Eventually he had given up and left a message. Listening to his words she gazed out of the window as the English countryside rushed past on her journey northward.
"Andrea, where the hell are you?" his voice was angry and shouting at first but then there was a pause and a deep breath before he resumed with a softer, gentler voice.
"Andrea where are you. I'm really worried about you? I called at the hospital this morning and they told me that you’d discharged yourself; why on earth...?”
The sound of cars passing in the street blocked out his voice for a moment.
"Look Andrea, please get in touch. I don't know where you’ve gone to, or why?
He was almost pleading.
"I noticed your travel bag has gone too."
Another pause and the sound of a few more deep breaths followed.
"Why didn't you tell me about the baby? I'm worried about you Andrea. Phone me, whatever is wrong we can sort it out. You should be back in hospital, you're not well. Helen agrees with me..."
At the mention of the woman's name she pressed the end call key. She didn't want to hear anything else he had to say and she certainly wasn't going to call him back. It was all too late.
***
It was late when she crossed over from the mainland of Mull to the little Island of Iona on the last MacBrayne ferry of the evening. It was funny but she felt as if she were going home. As she stepped onto dry land, a small dark figure was waiting to greet her. It was Geraldine. She hugged the young woman eagerly.
"Come along my dear. I expect you are hungry and tired. I have booked you a room for tonight in the St Columba hotel. Tomorrow you will sleep elsewhere."
After they had eaten Andrea retired to her room, although she could not sleep. Geraldine had placed the rune back safely into her hands and she placed it under her pillow for safe keeping. Tomorrow morning at dawn she would return to the small graveyard of St Oran, return back in time to her true love Alex MacDonald. The nearer she had travelled the more she had thought about Alex, her heart beating at the thought of him, the thought of his touch. The memories had flooded back; the first night he had made love to her. It had been so different to Steve's love making, so tender and passionate. It all seemed such a long time ago, not just a few short weeks, and Andrea smiled as she reminded herself; it was in fact centuries ago.
Over dinner Geraldine had explained it all again, it had all made perfect sense then. The child, her and Alex's child, would be born back in it’s own time to balance the order of things. She would be guided when the time was right on what action she should take. It all sounded so easy yet at the same time she was in danger. Helen would be hot on her heels, eager to capture the second rune. There was nothing she wouldn't do, no lengths she wouldn’t go to, to get that stone in her own hands. Geraldine had assured her that all would be well, that she would be protected, but now, on her own in the middle of the night, she didn’t feel so certain. It was only the thought of her unborn child and Alex that helped and held her courage.
She woke with a start. It was still dark as she felt across to the small bedside table to retrieve her watch. It was 6am. Soon it would be dawn and time to leave. Her heart beat quickly as she dressed, looking at her outline in the mirror. Her stomach had started to swell slightly and she delicately touched the soft skin of her belly. It was hard to imagine a new life growing inside of her.
Pulling on a jumper and grabbing her coat she walked down to the breakfast room. Geraldine was already waiting for her and had persuaded the waiting staff to cook her an early breakfast. Andrea didn't feel hungry but agreed to a slice of toast and honey washed down with a strong coffee. She needed something to get her through the morning.
"Do you have the stone?" Geraldine was wide awake and had polished off her full English with gusto, her eyes shining eagerly.
Andrea opened a shaking hand. The whole thing seemed more of a nightmare than an adventure and she trembled inwardly.
"Don't worry my dear, I will help you. Now we must be going. Helen is hot on your trail and will be here within the hour, we need to be moving."
The two women set off in the early morning. The grey light of dawn was visible on the skyline as they entered the gate by the old chapel.
***
Andrea shivered as she entered the small cemetery. What was the old saying? It was as if someone had stepped over her grave. As they approached the stone marking the final resting place of Alex MacDonald she thought of both Alex and Andra; dead for hundreds of years and rotted back into the earth. Yet here she stood with a child inside of her; a life that connected them all.
The first rays from a weak and pale sun formed a contrasting band above the dark horizon. The day was breaking and it was time for the journey. Andrea knelt beside the grave, the stone held firmly in her hand. All was still for a moment as she looked into the kind, blue eyes of Geraldine. A wind started blowing as the old bell tower started to chime the hour. The old gate creaked and Andrea looked up to see a familiar, cloaked figure approaching. It was Helen, but she had arrived a moment too late.