In Search of the Past (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #2) (2 page)

Stacey frowned and said, “Dreamy? He’s more like a nightmare, if you asked me.”

The young woman smiled and said, “Now take two of these for pain.”

Stacey looked at the bottle and asked, “Will it take care of a pain in the ass too?” 

The young woman frowned at her then said, “Oh, you mean Doctor McLeod,” and started giggling. Stacey used the pay phone, called a taxi and went to the flat she shared with Professor Anne Rutledge.  Stacey took two pills and went to sleep.  Annie woke her when she arrived home.  She was quite surprised to find Stacey there.  After hearing Stacey’s story and her dislike for Doctor McLeod she was no longer surprised.

“You’re not coming back to work,” Annie said. “You’re going to rest.” 

“Yes, I will. However, I have to go back tomorrow for one last visit.” She told Annie about leaving the hospital and that she did it this way so her parents wouldn’t have to pay the bill.  “As a matter of fact,” Stacey said. “I would rather they didn’t know about any of this. They would just worry.”

Eric came to see Stacey at the flat.  He had gone by the hospital to see her and found out she had been discharged.  Eric knew Stacey quite well, therefore, he wasn’t surprised to hear that she had left the hospital in a fit of temper. Eric and Stacey had known each other since Stacey was thirteen and Eric was seventeen.  They had always been close and took care of each other. Eric was the closest thing to a brother Stacey had.  As far as Stacey and her family were concerned, Eric was her foster brother. Stacey swore Eric to secrecy.  She told him she would tell her parents later, after they returned to Texas.

The next day at one o’clock Stacey was there right on time, for her appointment. She was dressed casually in jeans, boots and a red silk blouse. When the nurse let her in Doctor McLeod’s office, he was sitting behind his desk.  He looked up, started to get up, then changed his mind. His body involuntarily was having a sensual reaction to her. He was taken by surprise and was quite befuddled by the situation.

Stacey thought, to herself; I guess I’m not lady enough for him to stand up. Well, to heck with him and his high toned attitude too. Stacey was still very upset with him for sending a psychiatrist to see her. She knew her story was unusual, however, it didn’t warrant a psychiatrist, she didn’t think. And if it did, she had an uncle in Dallas who was a psychiatrist.

Surprised at his reaction to her, Doctor McLeod asked, “How do you feel this morning, Miss Scott? Have you experienced any dizziness or queasiness?” 

“No, I’m fine,” Stacey said irritably. “Can we get finished with this?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Scott, about the misunderstanding concerning Doctor Manning.” 

“Why did you send him then?” 

“I thought you might be more comfortable with him.”

“Why would you think that?” Stacey asked. “I had already told you my strange dream. To how many people did you think I would tell something like that?  I’m not stupid, Doctor McLeod. I know how ludicrous the whole thing sounds.”

“I now see I was in error and I do apologize,”  he paused, then asked, “How is your head?”

“Fine, as far as I know,” Stacey said.

“Did the tablets take care of all your pains?” Doctor McLeod inquired. Stacey smiled faintly. For some reason she knew that he knew, what she’d said to the young woman at the pharmacy.   Doctor McLeod asked a few more questions, then out of the blue he asked, “This young man in your dream, was he a knight?”

His bedside manner had caught her off guard. Without thinking, Stacey said, “No, he was the Earl of Dun-Raven.”

With a bit of a scoff, Doctor McLeod said, “You’re reaching rather high, aren’t you? I didn’t thing you Americans went in for all that posh.” 

His remark took a second or two to sink in, however, when it did Stacey stood up and said, “Get over yourself, Doctor McLeod. You’re a jerk and I’m outa’ here.”

As Stacey left Doctor McLeod’s office, she bumped into Rhonda in the corridor and a patient’s chart she was carrying went scattering to the floor.  As Stacey stopped to help gather up the pages, she said, “I’m so terribly sorry, I didn’t see you.”  As she handed the pages to Rhonda, she glanced over her shoulder and asked, “How do you manage to work with him, he’s such a pompous ass.”  Stacey didn’t wait for an answer, but turned and walked away.

Rhonda stood watching Stacey as she walked down the hall, then turned to find Doctor

McLeod standing in his doorway.  She smiled at him and said, “Well, that old McLeod magic

didn’t work on that one, did it?”

Shane grinned at her and reached his hand out and asked, “Is this the chart for my next patient?”

Rhonda gave it to him, then turned away laughing. Rhonda had known and liked Doctor McLeod since his arrival at the hospital.  She had watched as female patients and staff alike fell over themselves vying for his attentions.  Now out of the blue, came this beautiful young wildcat and as hard as he tried he couldn’t make a right step with her. Part of Rhonda felt sorry for him, however, another part of her, thought; ‘now the shoe was on the other foot.’

The Fund Raiser

S
tacey rested and fumed until Friday night.  She wanted to start searching for these people from her dream, but she had promised Annie she would go with her to a fund raiser, of which Annie’s uncle was the chairman.  Stacey had bought a red chiffon spaghetti strap dress for the occasion.  Stacey Scott is a tall, slender young woman with dark blue eyes and long auburn hair that falls in soft curls just below her shoulders. Stacey had been raised to have self-esteem and confidence in herself.

Stacey is a student studying toward her Bachelor’s degree in archaeology at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.  She has one more year before she graduates. Annie couldn’t care less about the fund raiser.  She goes to please her uncle, Lord Farnsworth.  Few people know she is Lady Anne Rutledge.  Annie and Stacey have been best friends for three years, they think of each other as sisters. They had been standing around for the past hour with the same glass in their hands.  Annie had gone to find her uncle to tell him that she and Stacey were leaving.

Stacey had wandered over to the hors-d’oeuvre table. When she turned around, Doctor McLeod was standing by the table.  Surprised to see her, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I’m sorry,” Doctor McLeod said. “that was rude of me. My only excuse is I’m very surprise to see you here.”

“Rude of you, well we finally agree on something,” Stacey said, dripping with sarcasm.

“What I meant is, I’ve been trying to contact you, Miss Scott.”

“Why?” she asked. “So you could insult me further.”

“No, of course not,” he said, mystified by her attitude. “I wanted to apologize for my actions the other day.  I don’t know what possessed me to say something like that.  It was quite unprofessional and insensitive of me.  I do apologize.”

“I haven’t given it a second thought,” Stacey said, coolly.

“I really don’t want to be here,” Doctor McLeod said, “However, it’s a fund raiser for a

new wing for the hospital.  Doctor Fein was to give a small speech, but he was called out

of the city, so here I am.  I dislike having to cow-tow to the idle rich.  Oh, sorry, are you

one of the idle rich?”

“I think you know better than that,” Stacey said.

What brings you here then?” he asked. 

“I’m with a friend,” Stacey informed him.

A woman came up to Doctor McLeod, possessively took his arm and said, “Shane darling, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.  You’re such a naughty boy to run off and leave me like that.”  When Doctor McLeod turned to introduce Stacey, she was gone.

For the past few days, Stacey had been visiting library after library, and the trying to get a lead of some kind on the Fitz-Morgan family. There seemed to be nothing, as if the records had been swept clean.  Therefore on Saturday, Stacey rented a car, packed herself a bag and headed for Yorkshire. She knew in her dream she’d lived in Yorkshire. Yorkshire was a big place and she knew she had only two weeks to look before going back home to Texas.

Stacey arrived in Leeds late Sunday afternoon.  She found herself a hotel, ate supper and set up her game plan.  Leeds had two main libraries where she thought she might find relevant information on the Fitz-Morgan family. Before settling in for the night, Stacey called Annie.  She had promised her she would stay in touch.

“Where are you?” Annie asked.

“I’m in Leeds. I just wanted to let you know where I am and not to worry.”

“Stacey, Doctor McLeod has been calling. He left his mobile number. Don’t you think you should find out what he wants?”

“I’m not interested in what he wants. I told you he’s a jerk, Annie.”

“Yes, I know you said that, but he seemed so nice. Eric’s been asking about you too. What do you want me to tell him?”

“Oh, good grief, as little as possible. I didn’t tell him my plans because he would have insisted on coming along and I really wanted to do this on my own. Can you keep him busy Annie? You know how Eric is, he’s like a ole’ hound dog when he gets on your trail.”

Annie laughed, “I’ll do my best sweetie. You will keep in close touch. Right?”

“Yes, I promise, so don’t worry about me. Goodnight and thanks, Annie.”

Stacey knew that she, or rather, the old countess had died in fourteen- forty- seven at that time she still had four living grandsons as well as numerous great-grandchildren.  There must be records of them somewhere, she thought. As soon as the libraries opened the next morning, Stacey was there ready to search the records for births or deaths of Fitz-Morgans, Ashworths, Maxwell’s and Howards. There were three castles of her descendants. Finwick keep, Falcon Crest castle and last but not least, Dun-Raven castle.  There had to be records of some kind. Stacey studied medieval maps of Yorkshire that the library provided.  Of course, the terrain looked much different in twenty-first century, than it had in the fourteen and fifteen centuries.

The staff, at the library wanted to assist in anyway they could. They helped her find Ashworths and Maxwell but they were too recent to be ancestors. By noon Stacey felt they were more or less humoring her.  She was sure they thought, she was just some crazy American girl who was looking for non-existent ancestors. Around one o’clock, Stacey left the library tired and disappointed, but she wasn’t going to give up on her search.  She decided to just start driving.  The countryside was absolutely beautiful. Stacey knew she had never been here before, except in her dream. She wondered again, if her dream could be a past life experience.  She knew so little about things like that.  Stacey had never been, what you would call, devout. Mr. Chen had taught her about the breath of life, so Stacey looked up at the sky and said, “Deities, I’m putting myself in your hands.  If ya’ll are out there show me the way, but you’ll need to hurry, I have to leave in two weeks.”

Stacey stopped the car and looked at the map.  She knew there was a river that ran by Dun-Raven castle.  Of course, it could have dried up or changed its flow after all these years. Well, Stacey thought; I’ll never know if I don’t look.  She sat for awhile studying the map.  Okay, she told herself; here goes nothing, as she took the motorway north in the direction she felt Dun-Raven should lie.

Maxwell House

S
tacey, following some instinctive impulse had turned off the main motorway a few miles back.  Now she regretted that decision as her car had just quit on her.  The fog had rolled in from nowhere so thick she could hardly see.  She had turned off the motorway, onto a country road because she felt something, not recognition, but something that she had no name for, other than intuition.

Stacey took out her flashlight to read the emergency phone number on the rental agreement.  As luck would have it her cell phone was dead.  She tried the car charger, but it was faulty too.  Stacey had been sitting in the car in the fog for about half an hour when she saw the faint glow of car lights.  She got out of the car to flag down the approaching vehicle with her flashlight, but it turned off somewhere up ahead. She thought, to herself; there must be a house up there.  Once again she grabbed her flashlight, as well as her shoulder bag and started walking.

She found the turn off and followed the driveway to a house. When she knocked on the door a friendly woman answered.  Stacey introduced herself and told the woman that her car had stopped on her and asked could she please use her phone?  “Yes, of course, go through dear.  The phone is in the dining room on the right.”

Once again, Stacey was dressed in jeans, shirt and boots. The woman took her to the phone in the dining room just off the foyer.  Stacey was talking on the phone to the rental company.  She was on hold, waiting to be connected to the towing service for the area, when a woman and a man walked into the dining room.

With much surprise, Stacey asked, “What are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same question,” he said.

“Shane, don’t be rude,” the woman with him said.

“Sorry, Mother, may I introduce you to Miss Scott.” 

The other woman came back in and he introduced her as his Aunt Letty. The phone brought Stacey back to reality. The towing service informed her, because of the fog it would be a while before they could get there.

“Okay, I suppose if that’s as soon as you can get here.” Stacey said.  She turned to the people still standing watching her and asked, “Where am I?” 

“You’re at Maxwell house, dear,” Aunt Letty said.

“I’m at Maxwell house, are you familiar with it?” Stacey asked the towing man.

“Not right off hand, miss.  What road are you on?”

A little exasperate, Stacey asked, “What road am I on, please?” 

“It’s Maxwell house road, dear,” Aunt Letty said.

When Stacey told him the road, he said, “Oh, sure miss I know the road.”

“I’ll be waiting in the car,” Stacey said, and hung up.

“Oh, no dear, you can’t do that, you’ll wait right here with us.  We’ll have a nice cup of tea while we’re waiting.”