In Search of the Past (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #2) (23 page)

“Yes, sir, that was one of the first places I checked.”

“Did you check on a map?” He asked. Stacey shook her head no. “You know London has changed considerably over the years. Perhaps we should start there. In what year do you suggest we start our search?”

“Thirteen-seventy, I’m pretty sure it was a functioning church at that time.” Stacey noticed the odd look he gave her, but he didn’t ask any questions. Stacey felt very comfortable with him. She guessed him to be in his middle thirty’s. He sure didn’t look like any professor she had ever seen. As he rode in the car with her, she asked, “Are you from London, Professor Webster?”

“No, I’m not, I’m from Leeds in Yorkshire, Stacey. And my name is Mark.”

Stacey’s head turned quickly when he said he was from Leeds, Yorkshire. “Have you heard of Dun-Raven castle a few miles from Leeds?”

“Yes, I went there once a few years ago. I’ve often wondered why archaeologist have never excavated there.”

“Are you familiar with the history of the castle?” Stacey asked.

“No, not right off hand, are you?” He watched Stacey’s reaction. There was something mysterious about her, that he couldn’t put his finger on, but it was there just the same. Perhaps working together he would learn more about this young American woman who was so interested in English history.

“Clyde Brown, mentioned you’re an archaeology student from Baylor University. You are a long way from home, aren’t you?”

Stacey glanced at him and nonchalantly said, “I guess it depends on which home you’re referring to. I live in Texas and my husband’s home is here.”

“That makes it difficult on the marriage, doesn’t it,” he said, as he wondered who the lucky bastard was.

“We’ve adapted.” Stacey said. “Do you want me to park in front or go around to the side?”

“In front will be fine,” Mark said, as he heard the sting of dissent in her voice. In the historical society, Mark asked to look at their maps. The young woman was more than happy to help Professor Webster. Stacey got a kick out of seeing how women fell over themselves trying to assist him. Soon they had maps on top of maps. They broke for lunch, and a chance to let their weary eyes rest. In the pub, where they went to eat he received the same attention.

Stacey asked, “May I ask you something personal?” He frowned, but nodded his head as he leaned back and rested his arm over the back of his chair. “Does it ever become tedious, having women fall all over themselves for your attention.”

He smiled at her and said, “In one word, no, and why do you ask?” He thought to himself, I would be happy to fall over myself, do cartwheels or whatever else it would take to have her undivided attention.

“Because, my husband gets his share of the same admiring looks. He says he doesn’t notice half of the time.”

“That’s probably true, you get used to certain things. What about you, do you get tired of admiring glances, from men and women alike. Your young and quite beautiful. I’m sure you get your share of attention. Oh, I see you’re surprised by that. What does your husband do for a living?”

“He’s a doctor at the medical center, a neurosurgeon. A very good one.”

Mark had watched Stacey during the meal. He noticed she was unpretentious and comfortable with herself. He could sense an enigma about her. Why does she live in Texas and her husband live here, he wondered, but wasn’t insensitive enough to ask. Back at the historical society they searched through more maps.

Finally, Stacey looked at her watch and said, “I’m sorry, Mark but I must cut this short and go home, can I drop you someplace?”

“No, thank you, I’m going to look here a while longer and then call a taxi. I’ll see you in the morning at nine,” he said.

When Stacey walked in the door, Shane was sitting on the couch and asked, “Where have you been, sweetheart, and why aren’t you answering you mobile?”

Not wanting to lie, she said, “I’ve been at the historical society going through their maps. My cell phone was dead this morning so I left it on the charger. How long have you been home?”

“Not long,” Shane said. “You look tired. Would you fancy going out for a bite?”

“Yes, I’d love to,” Stacey said as she put her arms around him for a kiss.

After the waiter left their table, Shane said, “Tell me, what information did you dig up at the historical society. And what is this looking at maps all about. This is the first I’ve heard bout maps.”

Sometimes; Shane felt as if Stacey was shutting him out. He knew he had acted badly in Scotland and he would have to regain her confidence, by being more understanding and learn to control his jealousy, of this long dead earl.

Stacey decided, even if this turned out badly that she was going to tell him the truth,

“When I was at Hawick, I met a lady who suggested that I look at the church of St. Mary’s there at Hawick, but I didn’t have time because I had promised you I would be here in two days. Yesterday, I remembered in my dream that the priest from St. Michaels church had officiated at the wedding of the earl and countess. I thought, if we could find the church, then perhaps we could find the records of their marriage.”

Shane had sat and patiently listened, and then said, “That’s a wonderful idea, I wish I had thought of it for you. Sweetheart, I am truly sorry for the way I acted in Scotland.”

As the waiter served their food; Shane was smiling at Stacey. After a few bites, Shane asked, “Who is this ‘we’ that’s helping you with the map search?”

Stacey, put her silverware down, laced her fingers together and said, “He’s a professor of medieval studies, and an expert on middle age architecture and maps. Would you like to come with me tomorrow and meet him.”

Sheepishly, Shane said, “I would love to, sweetheart, but I have a backlog of patients I must see.” Shane took her hand and kissed it and said, “Thank you for asking.”

When they arrived home, Stacey had a text message from Mark, “Whoopee, I found it. I’m aware that’s not very dignified. I’ll see you at nine tomorrow, goodnight.”

Stacey was so excited, she could hardly wait for tomorrow. When she entered the bedroom, Shane was waiting for her with a glass of champagne. Stacey asked, “What are we celebrating?”

“We’re celebrating our love. I just realized today, that you’ll be leaving at the end of the week. I don’t want us to quarrel anymore, sweetheart. I love you,” he said as he took her in his arms kissing and undressing her as his lips and fingers caressed her smooth satiny skin.

The next morning, Mark Webster was waiting out front of the historical society when Stacey drove up. “Good morning, Stacey, I didn’t want to go in until you arrived. I wanted to share your excitement with you,” he said, enthusiastically.  Stacey followed him in like an eager child. He retrieved the map he discovered late yesterday and took it to a table where a light would shine on it. He ran his finger along a line indicating a wooded area and what looked like a small abbey. The map was hand drawn with names scribbled in. Along the side of the abbey was scrawled St. Michaels Sanctuary.

Stacey’s excitement was boundless. “How do we go about finding this place?” Stacey asked. “Do you think it would still be there or encompassed by another building?”

“I had not thought of that,” he said. “We’ll look at later maps. This map is dated, fifteen thirty-eight. And as you see London is spreading out in all directions. We’ll find later maps and hope it’s still there. Of course, there’s the possibility it may have been a victim of the Protestant Reformation.”

Stacey studied the map with the sanctuary on it, and then brought out a few of the earlier maps they had searched. With the sanctuary for a guide, she was searching for Hampton hall. It didn’t take long for her to realize, it had been built over to expand the city. When Mark saw the expression on Stacey’s face and her wipe a tear from her eye, he took her arm and said, “Let’s get out of here and go get something to drink.” To the curator he said, “Leave every-thing as is, we’ll be right back.” Across the street at the coffee shop, Mark asked, “Why is this search so personal to you Stacey?”

Stacey looked out the coffee shop window as Mark sat patiently waiting for her answer, “If I tell you, you’ll think I’m a nut case.”

Mark smiled at her and said, “I rather doubt that, but granted I haven’t known you very long. So tell me and take your chances.”

Stacey took a deep breath and told him about her fall at the archaeology site and about her dream and now she was searching for information on these people. She told him about Hawick in Scotland and St. Mary’s church. That was why she was searching for St. Michaels church.

“I know this will sound ridiculous, but sometimes I feel such a void in my life, as if I’m pining for someone or something. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m very curious about these people from the past and what they have to do with me. I’m trying very hard not to obsess about them, but I do feel a kinship to them, somehow,” she said.

“Well, I don’t think you’re a nut case. A bit strange perhaps.” he said, jokingly. “But defiantly not your run of the mill nut case. Is your husband aware of your dream.”

“Yes, he is, he was my doctor when I woke up in hospital. He looks very much like the earl of Dun-Raven. He’s been very supportive, but he does have some issues about the whole thing.”

“I take it that you haven’t been married very long. How old are you Stacey?”

“I’m twenty-one and we’ve been married five months. I must leave this weekend to go back to school, so I’m hoping to find something tangible before I leave.”

“Why don’t you transfer to here so you can be together?”

“Because our marriage is a secret. We both are the only children in our family, so we’re having a big wedding in June at the ranch, then I’ll be living and going to school here.”

“So, what you’re telling me is, that you’re a bonafide country girl,” smiling, he took her hand, shook his head and said, “We best get back to our search then, we don’t want you leaving empty handed, now do we.”

Back at the historical society, Mark pulled out more maps. Most of them only showed the tower and castle, London proper and the river waterfront. The next one was dated sixteen-ten and the next one sixteen-thirty-five. St. Michaels sanctuary was sketched in on both of those.

The next map was dated, sixteen-seventy. “That was four years after the great London fire of sixteen-sixty-six.” Mark said, shaking his head. “I’m very much afraid that St. Michaels sanctuary was a victim of the great fire that ravaged the city.”

Stacey kept looking for the sanctuary. She just couldn’t believe they had come so close to have it snatched away. “What if we find the nearest streets and ride out there and look for ourselves. Maybe it’s still there and they just didn’t bother to sketch it in.”  Stacey saw the look that Mark gave her and said, “Yes, I know how crazy that sounds, but I’m grabbing at straws here.”

“Better yet,” Mark said. “we’ll look at modern day map for the location, and then we’ll take a ride.”

Mark pulled out a modern day map to compare with the sixteen-seventy map. Even with Stacey’s inexperienced eye she could see the modern day city of London had stretched and encompassed the area where St. Michaels sanctuary had stood. Stacey knew in her heart of hearts that the sanctuary was no more, but it was hard to give up all hope. Stacey sat with her thumb against her teeth thinking, “When the city took the land from the sanctuary of St. Michaels wouldn’t they have salvaged the church records for posterity?”

Mark was filing maps away and said, “Excellent thinking, and this is one of the places we should be looking.”

He asked the assistant curator about records from St. Michael’s sanctuary. Of course, the first thing she wanted to know was what year. They searched all afternoon and found nothing. Stacey left at five to meet Shane for supper at the athletic club. He was waiting for her at the bar. As she entered, he could see she was tired and disappointment showed on her face.  As he kissed her, he asked, “Did you have a bad day? I’m sorry sweetheart, but you’re looking far back into the past for people who may never have existed.”

The club was full of diners, so Stacey didn’t bother to argue with him and besides, she had no proof of the existence of these people except in her head. Well, like Scarlet said, “Tomorrow’s another day.” And I have two more days before I leave for Texas. Stacey was tired but made no excuses when Shane wanted to make love to her. It didn’t take long to put her in the mood when Shane’s expert hands and lips began moving over her body. She asked herself, what am I doing looking for dead people when I have this wonderful, sexy man to love. As Stacey slept in Shane’s arms she dreamed of the handsome, rugged earl and Dun-Raven.

The next morning, after Shane left for the hospital, Stacey checked her e-mails. To her surprise there was a letter from Alistair Harden. Stacey could hardly believe her eyes, it read:

Dear Stacey, It is my greatest pleasure to inform you that we( Mother and I ) believe we may have located the lady you were searching for so diligently. In St Mary’s marriage records in the year fourteen-seventy-two, a lady by the name of Eleanor Grey married James Elliot of Stobs castle. Could this be the lady using her maiden name? Sorry to say we have found nothing on the three girls. We are in this now and we will keep looking. I’ll notify you when we find more.

Yours faithfully, Alistair Harden

Stacey e-mailed him back immediately, “Thank you Alistair and your mother for your excellent detective work. Yes, I do believe Grey was Eleanor’s maiden name. Hopefully, there will be information on the girls too. I do plan on coming back and visiting y’all next summer. Until then, please accept my sincere gratitude for your help. I must say, you two are amazing Detectives. Sincerely, Stacey McLeod

Stacey was so excited she couldn’t wait to tell Shane. She called but he was in surgery.

At the historical society, Mark looked up as she came in the door. He could tell from the look on her beautiful face that something wonderful had happened. She was bubbling over with excitement as she told Mark and the nice employees that had been so helpful her news. Mark dusted his hands off and said, “Well, you have accomplished more than we have here. We can find nothing on St. Michaels church or sanctuary. It is as if the records have been wiped clean.”