say something . There was no response.
Will sighed, disappointed. ‘I remember it perfectly in every detail. We had so few visitors at Morham,’ he added with a touch of melancholy.
And something stirred in Tam’s mind, a sudden flash like a scene he had witnessed as an onlooker.
Will as a small child sitting on an old lady’s knee. There was a woman in the background, a young woman. Fleeting pain and heartbreak. The agony of loss.
A half-forgotten dream.
Except that when Tam slept out of his own time, there were no dreams. He merely opened his eyes again on another day in one continuous pattern.
In that instant the vision of the small child was lost.
Although Tam was allowed neither dreams nor the indulgence of memory, Will Hepburn had somehow slipped through the eradication procedure of a mind wiped clean of previous encounters before the next quest began. Not so Janet Beaton, despite Tansy’s intriguing suggestion that theyhad met before. If only he could recall something of that occasion .
Now Will was regarding him curiously. ‘You do not remember?’ he insisted. ‘It is quite extraordinary.’ Pausing he regarded Tam with a puzzled frown. ‘Obviously I have made a mistake.’
And to Tansy, who was listening intently, her gentle smile offering no attempt at explanation. ‘That must be so.’
Then again to Tam. ‘You look exactly as I remember you, sir, thirty-six years ago, when I was four years old and you were a grown man.’ And shaking his head, bewildered, ‘May I ask how old you are now, sir?’
‘I am thirty-six.’
Another pause. ‘Are you then some kind of a wizard, sir?’
Although his voice was gentle and mocking, his glance at the silent Tam held anxiety and demanded explanation. There was none forthcoming. Will’s sharp look at Tansy held an element of warning, for such creatures were dangerous associates for his beloved.
Aware of his bewildered concern, Tansy touched his arm and said lightly, ‘Perhaps you were mistaken, Will. That was a very long time ago and maybe it was someone who looked like Master Eildor. After all, doubles are not impossible, especially when one lives in the Borders where gentlemen as well as the steel bonnets spread themselves somewhat freely.’
Will eagerly seized upon this possibility. ‘Your father, sir. Could it have been he that I met that day?’
Tam shook his head, thought fast and said, ‘I think not, my father did not come from England.’
Aware of the tangled web Tam was getting into, Tansy said, ‘We are very glad to see you, Will. You have come at a most opportune time. We need your help. Something terrible has happened –’
‘How terrible?’ Will demanded anxiously.
‘Mistress Agnew, the queen’s midwife has been killed.’
‘Killed – how so?’
‘Murdered, Will. Murdered. We found her just hours ago –’
Tansy had changed the subject so swiftly Tam realised that, for her own reasons, she had not told Will about Janet Beaton’s prediction that one day Tam Eildor would return. Lovers did not always tell one another everything and presumably Will was to be excluded from that information.
Listening to Tansy relating the details of the tragedy they had witnessed, Tam knew that the fewer who shared the secret of his identity, the better. Such knowledge was indeed dangerous in the court of a king who had an obsession about witches and warlocks. He did not want to burn should James’s infatuation for him be distorted by jealous enemies into suspicions of witchcraft and sorcery.
‘So they removed the body,’ said Will at the end of Tansy’s dramatic disclosure. ‘They would presumably take her to the guardroom and will keep her body until they find kin to bury her.’
‘That will be no easy matter, Will,’ said Tansy. ‘Very little is known about Margaret Agnew or her kin.’ And in a horrified whisper, ‘What think you of the fact that the dagger was replaced and dismissed as a tragic accident? When Lord
Will sighed, disappointed. ‘I remember it perfectly in every detail. We had so few visitors at Morham,’ he added with a touch of melancholy.
And something stirred in Tam’s mind, a sudden flash like a scene he had witnessed as an onlooker.
Will as a small child sitting on an old lady’s knee. There was a woman in the background, a young woman. Fleeting pain and heartbreak. The agony of loss.
A half-forgotten dream.
Except that when Tam slept out of his own time, there were no dreams. He merely opened his eyes again on another day in one continuous pattern.
In that instant the vision of the small child was lost.
Although Tam was allowed neither dreams nor the indulgence of memory, Will Hepburn had somehow slipped through the eradication procedure of a mind wiped clean of previous encounters before the next quest began. Not so Janet Beaton, despite Tansy’s intriguing suggestion that theyhad met before. If only he could recall something of that occasion .
Now Will was regarding him curiously. ‘You do not remember?’ he insisted. ‘It is quite extraordinary.’ Pausing he regarded Tam with a puzzled frown. ‘Obviously I have made a mistake.’
And to Tansy, who was listening intently, her gentle smile offering no attempt at explanation. ‘That must be so.’
Then again to Tam. ‘You look exactly as I remember you, sir, thirty-six years ago, when I was four years old and you were a grown man.’ And shaking his head, bewildered, ‘May I ask how old you are now, sir?’
‘I am thirty-six.’
Another pause. ‘Are you then some kind of a wizard, sir?’
Although his voice was gentle and mocking, his glance at the silent Tam held anxiety and demanded explanation. There was none forthcoming. Will’s sharp look at Tansy held an element of warning, for such creatures were dangerous associates for his beloved.
Aware of his bewildered concern, Tansy touched his arm and said lightly, ‘Perhaps you were mistaken, Will. That was a very long time ago and maybe it was someone who looked like Master Eildor. After all, doubles are not impossible, especially when one lives in the Borders where gentlemen as well as the steel bonnets spread themselves somewhat freely.’
Will eagerly seized upon this possibility. ‘Your father, sir. Could it have been he that I met that day?’
Tam shook his head, thought fast and said, ‘I think not, my father did not come from England.’
Aware of the tangled web Tam was getting into, Tansy said, ‘We are very glad to see you, Will. You have come at a most opportune time. We need your help. Something terrible has happened –’
‘How terrible?’ Will demanded anxiously.
‘Mistress Agnew, the queen’s midwife has been killed.’
‘Killed – how so?’
‘Murdered, Will. Murdered. We found her just hours ago –’
Tansy had changed the subject so swiftly Tam realised that, for her own reasons, she had not told Will about Janet Beaton’s prediction that one day Tam Eildor would return. Lovers did not always tell one another everything and presumably Will was to be excluded from that information.
Listening to Tansy relating the details of the tragedy they had witnessed, Tam knew that the fewer who shared the secret of his identity, the better. Such knowledge was indeed dangerous in the court of a king who had an obsession about witches and warlocks. He did not want to burn should James’s infatuation for him be distorted by jealous enemies into suspicions of witchcraft and sorcery.
‘So they removed the body,’ said Will at the end of Tansy’s dramatic disclosure. ‘They would presumably take her to the guardroom and will keep her body until they find kin to bury her.’
‘That will be no easy matter, Will,’ said Tansy. ‘Very little is known about Margaret Agnew or her kin.’ And in a horrified whisper, ‘What think you of the fact that the dagger was replaced and dismissed as a tragic accident? When Lord
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