conversation.
After traveling for another hour, and practicing his driving skills some more, he stopped on a hillside near an open field.
He quickly opened the door and scanned the horizon. She got out and gasped in surprise.
"A crop circle! Oh, Angus, isn't it fantastic? I've seen pictures of them, but I never thought I'd actually get to see a real one." She was about to say she wished for a camera, but what would be the point in taking pictures she couldn't enjoy for long?
"Aye. It also means we're verra' near where members of the Order exist, and that I'm to proceed with caution."
"These things are made by the Order?" she whispered, as she gazed in wonder at the intricate design. The grain crop had been flattened to form three increasingly larger circles 95
Stone Heart
by Candace Sams
connected by a straight line. There were small, evenly spaced crescent shapes fanning out from either side of the middle circle.
"They are made by the Order," he confirmed, "and we're being warned ."
"You mean we in a general sense don't you?"
He shook his head. "You and I are being told exactly how to proceed and to do nothing which endangers the Order."
Too late, he saw her eyes widen and an expression of alarm cross her face. Too much excitement was not good for her, and the last thing he wanted was for Karen to come to harm. He carefully guarded his next words and kept the tone of his voice quiet. "'Tis the same for anyone coming into the Order after a long absence," he lied. "We are always warned to be careful, no' to lose our way and to draw no attention."
"How could they know we're here? How do they know about me ?"
"Someone may have come looking for me on the three-hundredth anniversary of my curse. Having nowhere else to go and no means of surviving, being with my own kind is only logical. They know that I would seek them out. But dunna'
fear. If they wanted to harm us, they would have found us and done so." He waved his hand in the direction of the field.
"They simply want us to be careful and no' alert the authorities to our presence. In my time, no outsider knew of the Order." He looked the circle over again. "I believe this must still be the case."
"Oh, I'm certain know one knows about them. The way communication is today, that kind of news would be all over 96
Stone Heart
by Candace Sams
the world in hours. But you're taking me to them," she pointed out. " I'm an outsider."
He smiled and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "We are both being invited. So much time has passed that their rules about certain outsiders must have changed. Perhaps they will allow some outsiders to find them if they are trusted.
In any case, you will no' be harmed." He would never allow it.
She shook her head. "I'm not worried about me, Angus. I don't want you in trouble with these ... people ... because of me."
It was suddenly very important that she knew something of what she would be seeing. The shock could hurt her. He led her back to the car and motioned her back behind the wheel with a nod. When they were inside and he knew he had her full attention, he tried to think of the words he would use. He would have to draw on very old memories and hope his descriptions were still accurate. "Karen, when you broke my curse, you said something about your knowledge of the Order. Tell me again what you know."
"I was told what I thought were a lot of fairy tales about magical beings. Fairies, Gnomes, Trolls..." her voice trailed away. For several moments, his expression revealed his struggle to tell her without causing stress, and she suspected he was trying to avoid a repeat of the fainting incident she'd had on the night his spell was broken. For the first time since her childhood, her congenital heart problem caught up with her, and Karen felt cheated. Since there was nothing Angus or anyone else could do about her health, she didn't want to be coddled to save her from pain. The end would come one way 97
Stone Heart
by Candace
After traveling for another hour, and practicing his driving skills some more, he stopped on a hillside near an open field.
He quickly opened the door and scanned the horizon. She got out and gasped in surprise.
"A crop circle! Oh, Angus, isn't it fantastic? I've seen pictures of them, but I never thought I'd actually get to see a real one." She was about to say she wished for a camera, but what would be the point in taking pictures she couldn't enjoy for long?
"Aye. It also means we're verra' near where members of the Order exist, and that I'm to proceed with caution."
"These things are made by the Order?" she whispered, as she gazed in wonder at the intricate design. The grain crop had been flattened to form three increasingly larger circles 95
Stone Heart
by Candace Sams
connected by a straight line. There were small, evenly spaced crescent shapes fanning out from either side of the middle circle.
"They are made by the Order," he confirmed, "and we're being warned ."
"You mean we in a general sense don't you?"
He shook his head. "You and I are being told exactly how to proceed and to do nothing which endangers the Order."
Too late, he saw her eyes widen and an expression of alarm cross her face. Too much excitement was not good for her, and the last thing he wanted was for Karen to come to harm. He carefully guarded his next words and kept the tone of his voice quiet. "'Tis the same for anyone coming into the Order after a long absence," he lied. "We are always warned to be careful, no' to lose our way and to draw no attention."
"How could they know we're here? How do they know about me ?"
"Someone may have come looking for me on the three-hundredth anniversary of my curse. Having nowhere else to go and no means of surviving, being with my own kind is only logical. They know that I would seek them out. But dunna'
fear. If they wanted to harm us, they would have found us and done so." He waved his hand in the direction of the field.
"They simply want us to be careful and no' alert the authorities to our presence. In my time, no outsider knew of the Order." He looked the circle over again. "I believe this must still be the case."
"Oh, I'm certain know one knows about them. The way communication is today, that kind of news would be all over 96
Stone Heart
by Candace Sams
the world in hours. But you're taking me to them," she pointed out. " I'm an outsider."
He smiled and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "We are both being invited. So much time has passed that their rules about certain outsiders must have changed. Perhaps they will allow some outsiders to find them if they are trusted.
In any case, you will no' be harmed." He would never allow it.
She shook her head. "I'm not worried about me, Angus. I don't want you in trouble with these ... people ... because of me."
It was suddenly very important that she knew something of what she would be seeing. The shock could hurt her. He led her back to the car and motioned her back behind the wheel with a nod. When they were inside and he knew he had her full attention, he tried to think of the words he would use. He would have to draw on very old memories and hope his descriptions were still accurate. "Karen, when you broke my curse, you said something about your knowledge of the Order. Tell me again what you know."
"I was told what I thought were a lot of fairy tales about magical beings. Fairies, Gnomes, Trolls..." her voice trailed away. For several moments, his expression revealed his struggle to tell her without causing stress, and she suspected he was trying to avoid a repeat of the fainting incident she'd had on the night his spell was broken. For the first time since her childhood, her congenital heart problem caught up with her, and Karen felt cheated. Since there was nothing Angus or anyone else could do about her health, she didn't want to be coddled to save her from pain. The end would come one way 97
Stone Heart
by Candace
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