His wife was suddenly sitting up beside him.
“What is it, Torin? What’s wrong?” she asked, hooking her arm around his, a bit disoriented from her husband’s arm’s releasing her so suddenly that it had jolted her awake.
“Do you see it?” he asked, continuing to stare.
“See what?” she asked, looking where he did.
“The image floating at the bottom of the bed.”
Flora stared for a moment expecting to see something and when she didn’t, she patted her husband’s arm. “Wake up, Torin, you are dreaming.”
Dreaming? Aye, he was dreaming. It wasn’t real.
“Wake up,” she urged again.
He turned his eyes on his wife. “I am dreaming.”
“Aye, you are. Wake up,” she urged again.
He turned his glance once again to the bottom of the bed… the apparition was gone.
CHAPTER24
“Something weighs heavily on you,” Kinnell said the next morning as he walked through the village with Torin.
“Do you ever think of that time when we saw my grandda in the woods and returned to the keep only to find out that he had died hours before then?”
“I do think on it, for I continue to wonder how we saw what we saw. Your grandda was dead. How could he appear to us? And yet we both saw him clear as day and saw him just as clearly vanish before our eyes.”
“Seeing him as we did makes me wonder if ghosts are real,” Torin said.
“Did you see a ghost in the keep?” Kinnell asked nervously.
“Nay, it was nothing more than a dream, probably caused by a problem in the tower room.”
“What problem?” Kinnell asked when Torin didn’t explain.
“A stone in the sealed door has crumbled and left a hole. Cold wind spews through it and to repair the problem the room would need to be opened.”
“Nay! Nay!” Kinnell argued. “Your da and your grandda warned you never to open that room. It was sealed for a reason. It must remain sealed.”
“If I do that then the ghost situation may never be resolved since the wind that causes the moan could be coming from the room. Besides, there is no telling the decay that has taken place there. Do I cause more problems to the keep if I repair the seal and not the damage that may have been done all these years from neglect?”
“That is a conundrum,” Kinnell agreed. “What does your wife think? I only ask because she has endless opinions, and I am sure she offered you one.”
“Flora told me it was my decision to make, and she would support whatever I decided to do. But I believe she would like to see the room opened and I must admit part of me feels the same. I have been curious about it since I was young, and I would like to learn the truth.”
“But do you defy the orders of those who came before you?” Kinnell asked.
“Exactly,” Torin said and spied his wife walking with an elderly woman in the village.
“The clan loves her. She chats with everyone, asks them endless questions, offers her opinion whether asked or not and gives generously of whatever is asked of her. Many people claim there is no better lady of the keep than Lady Flora.”
“I chose wisely,” Torin said with a smug grin.
Kinnell laughed. “Shall I remind you why you chose her?”
Torin kept his eyes on his wife. “Nay, I am just glad I did.”