Outside? There it was, that feeling again. It was as though warm and cuddly magical fingers had reached up from the earth, and stretched through the atmosphere to envelop me. I heard something soft and gentle in my mind and it said, “Welcome home, Bobbie.”
I gasped out loud, caught myself, and coughed.
However, all at once, the feeling of warmth and welcome changed and turned ugly.
I looked up and saw a dark cloud—just one dark cloud, and while I stared at it, a shiver ran through me.
The driver drew my attention away, saying, “Have ye ever seen Hawthorne trees in bloom, miss?” He indicated with his chin and I looked in that direction to ooh and aah some more.
The lovely trees lined the walkway that led to the wide arched front door and their fragrant scent filled the air. All at once, I felt myself transported into the deeper recesses of my mind—into my Shama.
Hawthorne trees, my mother taught me, were sacred to immortal and mortal witches alike. The witch in me wanted to run to the Hawthorne trees and touch. The witch in me wanted to rub against the bark, breathe in the magic from the leaves and be at peace.
I was drawn almost irresistibly to the trees.
As I strolled past them to the front door, I couldn’t stop myself and reached out to touch a branch.
I was immediately transported into a vision.
I saw the figure of a woman in black and she frightened me. Suddenly, she turned, and her fangs dripped with blood.
What the hell?
I shook myself free, but a petal from one of the flowers fell and landed on my cheek and as I took it off, I swear, I heard it say, “Beware, witch, beware.”
Ok, this was freaky, even for me. Also, it was epic. I mean, honestly, I am, even though I am a witch, a bit of a skeptic about anything I haven’t experienced before. This was a very different experience and while it was exciting beyond thought, I wondered if I wasn’t just being fanciful.
“Go on, then,” Daniel, my driver, told me. “I’ll follow with yer luggage.”
Luggage? I only had one suitcase and one overnight bag. College tuition had left me with very little left over for clothes or shoes.
For a moment, I put aside my Hawthorne tree experience and stared at the castle. Oh, but it was undeniably magnificent.
I moved forward over the flat blue-stone steps and hesitated to take another moment to admire.
The architecture was exquisite, and I imagined all the history the stone walls held within, as well as around the grounds.
The building was made of sandstone and designed with lovely fairy-tale turrets. The two wings, which flanked the arched front doors to the Keep, were partially and beautifully covered with ivy. The Keep was three stories high. At the roof of the Keep was a battlement that stretched to a whimsical conical blue slated turret at each end. The two wings were designed much the same, and the whole affect had me in awe.
Everywhere I looked, there were flowering vines attractively adorning huge, dark wooden posts, and arched hideaways.
Everything spoke of ancient, yet it was obvious that it had been lovingly restored and modernized by a contractor who had taken great pains to maintain the building’s original integrity.
Daniel eyed me and asked, “Are ye all right then, miss?”
He was elderly and dear, with shocks of white hair protruding from his wool peaked cap, and this made me smile.
“Yes, oh yes.”
“Then ye aren’t worried, are ye? Shouldna be. People talk and say how MacLeod is haunted because of…well, I dinnae think any ghost will bother ye.” He smiled kindly.
“A ghost? No, I hadn’t heard that. I didn’t read that anywhere in its write-up either.” I was immediately thrilled. A ghost? I had never interacted with a ghost. “How great is that!”
He laughed. “Do ye believe in ghosts, miss?”
“Of course, doesn’t everyone?” I smiled and gave him an enormous tip, I could afford it now.
He thanked me, but there wasn’t time for more as the front doors were opened wide and I got my first view of the Great Hall.