The Secret of the Stone House by Judith Silverthorne Page B

called it. This “second sight” came naturally to Emma, and obviously to Molly. There seemed little doubt that Geordie also had it, although he didn’t seem to acknowledge it.
    On the crest of the hill, Emily sat on a flat rock, staring out across the prairie with its abundant buckbrush and wolf willow. She could almost picture Emma coming to meet her. She remembered how they would lie on the ground, watching the clouds move across the sky, and have contests in naming the birds that flew overhead. And she remembered the fun they’d had figuring out their family connection.
    Even now, Emily found herself amazed, knowing that the Elliotts were her relatives from the past. Should she tell Geordie? Wouldn’t he be surprised to find out he was her great-uncle and that Molly was her grandmother? It was a rare gift seeing her gran as a small child. Molly had recognized Emily as a kindred spirit right from the beginning, when as a baby she had first smiled at her.
    “What are you grinning about?” Geordie’s voice startled her.
    Emily jumped up, brushing the grass off her clothes. “Just at how pleased I am to be here,” she said.
    “I’m glad you’re here too, lass,” Geordie said as they walked around a patch of flowering chamomile.
    “Tell me why you’ve decided to build the house so far from your other place,” Emily asked.
    “There’s a better well over there,” he said. “We’re also going to have easier access to the main route to Wolseley. Now that we have neighbours, we have a common trail we use.”
    “Neighbours?” Emily asked, surprised.
    “Yes, there must be twenty families or so in the area. Some folks from back home have joined us.”
    “I guess I hadn’t noticed.” She’d have to take a closer look across the landscape on her return.
    Geordie continued his explanation. “It’s also a nice flat spot, sheltered from the wind.”
    “Yes, it is,” Emily agreed as they caught sight of the proud stone house surrounded by a nest of chokecherry bushes and green ash to the south, and caragana on the west. Poplar bluffs rimmed the other sides of the yard. The house’s grandeur was already evident.
    “You sure work fast,” she noted, amazed to see how much of the stonework was completed, and that they’d started on the rafters.
    Geordie looked at her in surprise. “You haven’t been here since last Tuesday.”
    “Oh, no,” she said. “Your time goes by so much faster than mine. It was only yesterday for me. That explains why things have changed so much. Four years have passed for you, but for me, it’s only been three months.”
    Geordie looked at her in astonishment.
    “Good thing my time doesn’t change too much while I’m here,” she added.
    “Come on then,” Geordie called, striding towards the house. “Time’s a-wasting.”
    They skirted the remaining piles of sand and stones, passing masonry tools, and ducking under scaffolding. Geordie led her up a plank to the main door. She stared in awe at the freshly placed stones of the wall, running her hands over them. Stepping inside, she felt the instant coolness of the somewhat hollow interior.
    “The kitchen,” she said.
    The sunlight streamed through several windows criss-crossing the wood floors in the open expanse. There were no interior walls yet, only the supporting posts and beams.
    “Yes,” Geordie answered. Then he pointed out where the other rooms would be as they toured the first floor. “The parlour will be over there, and a smaller bed-sitting room next to it.”
    Emily recognized the space as the current living room and the office.
    “And this will be the dining room,” Geordie continued.
    “Where’s the fireplace?” Emily asked, walking over to the spot where it was in the house now.
    He looked warily at her, as if wondering how she could know about something they hadn’t already done. “We’ll build it once we have the roof on.”
    Emily nodded. Then she noticed the stairs.
    “Careful,” he