“But, she was supposed to call me when she booked the train. I heard nothing from her. It was Isla who told me she had arrived and I drove down immediately.
Edmund was in a terrible state. He had just spent an hour with two crying lassies and his appointments were all re-scheduled as a result. I doubt he had time for any food since the morning and he was clearly tired and annoyed.”
“Well, Jeanette, I suppose it was obvious to his mother that she was, indeed, needed.”
“True enough, Bev, but the doctor was not pleased. I assured him his mother was staying at the hotel, and whisked her out of there before she could antagonize any more of the staff. Fern was bristling like a dog scenting a rival dog on its property, and Isla took off as soon as I arrived with one of those expressions that say, ‘better out of here before the fur flies’.
“Not a good start then?”
“You could say that!”
“What did you do next?”
“I took her to the hotel, booked her in for dinner, and suggested rather strongly that she should rest after the journey. Since she does not know where the cottage is, I thought it was safe to leave her to settle in while I tried to undo some of the damage.
I phoned my Mom and told her to prepare for a guest for dinner then I headed back to the surgery and begged Edmund to come home with me for a meal and an explanation. I figured he couldn’t attack me openly with my children at the table.”
“Well played, Jeanette! How did it go?”
“George plied him with drink and Mom did an excellent job of filling his stomach as well as offering to make sure his mother is entertained while she is in Oban.
He handed over his spare keys and warned me not to bring his mother to his workplace again.
“She can do whatever she likes in the house as long as I am not there. I will spend time with her when I have calmed down a bit, but for now, it’s best if she keeps out of my way.”
“Ah! Alan’s mother would say you have made a birch for your own back, my dear. You’ll have your work cut out for the next couple of weeks by the sounds of it. Bring her to me when you and Jean get worn out. I hope she’s not as bad as she sounds.”
“My hope too, Bev. Thanks for listening. It won’t surprise you to know George has said much the same things to me. He’s planning to keep out of Christine Jansen’s way.”
“Keep me up to date with events?”
“Surely! Bye for now.”
Jeanette was calling from her husband’s home office. George had already gone to bed and Jean was preparing to spend the next day with Christine at the doctor’s cottage. She insisted she would stop the woman from doing any actual destruction and keep her busy talking. That way Jeanette could get on with her own work.
“I’ll be your spy, my dear. But if she is truly obnoxious, don’t expect me to waste my time with her.”
It was the best deal Jeanette could expect under the circumstances.
The plan was to drive Jean to the hotel after showing her the nearby location of the cottage on the seafront road and handing her the keys. In the evening, they would compare notes and plan the next day’s campaign.
Jeanette went to bed hoping to sleep. She had a full calendar of design work and the supervision of a renovation in a house out of town. She closed her eyes on the prayer that her mother would, somehow, manage to cope on her own.
Delays at the renovation house where the clients wanted to scrap the original decoration plan, meant that Jeanette did not return home until late in the evening.
She saw the lights shining out from the windows of their elegant Victorian home and knew her mother and her husband had taken over in her absence.
What a blessing it is to have these two pitching in! My mother is proving to be a benefit far beyond anything I could have expected when I brought her here from Vancouver to live with us. Liam and Annette love her and the feeling is mutual. When this stramash with Christine Jansen is over we will all take a few days away together to recover.
When the dishes were done and the children in bed with books to read, Jeanette joined her mother in her bedroom and sat down on the side of the bed to hear her news.
Jean was carefully applying a nourishing night cream to her face and neck and the delicate scent reminded her daughter of years before when she was a child sitting watching this same performance and inhaling the sights and sounds of adulthood.
“Mom, thank you so much for covering for me today. I hope it was not too much stress for you.”
Jean stopped to place a hairnet over her tidy white waves and sat back against her pillows ready for a good chat.
“On the contrary, Jeanette dear! I enjoyed it.
That woman is just lonely. She talked for hours and I was able to sympathize with her about how life changes when a husband dies.
We worked along together and stopped often for cups of tea. The place is tiny so it did not take very long to do a bit of dusting and tidying. We changed the bed and put a wash in the machine. Afterwards we walked along to the grocery store and bought supplies for Edmund. I talked to the manager and asked for delivery service and he obliged immediately once he saw the amount of food in our cart.
The rest of the day was spent in putting food away, doing some basic cooking for the freezer, ironing sheets and pillow cases and napkins. I promised to show her around town tomorrow and I got her back to the hotel before her son left the surgery. George gave me a ride home.”
“Mother! You are a lifesaver once again! Bless you!
Do you really believe she’s not as bad as she first appeared?”
“She was understandably nervous yesterday. She wants to do well for her boy but she is in unfamiliar territory. I must say I blame Edmund for not introducing her around town before now. She feels cut off from his life in a very painful way.
Perhaps, Jeanette, this is an opportunity to mend fences?
Perhaps you should have a chat with Ashley about this situation? It is not good for her relationship with her future mother-in-law to get off on the wrong foot like this.”
“Mom, you are a paragon of wisdom and I will follow your advice to the letter.”
Jean smiled at her daughter and wiped a tear from her cheeks with a tender finger.
“My dearest daughter, I remembered today how grateful I am to be folded into your family life in this way. I know I resisted the idea of moving across the world to you for several years, but I could not be happier you finally broke me down. Every day with my wonderful grandchildren is a treat for me. I have realized that they would never have known me if I had stayed in Vancouver, so far away from them.”
“Mom, you are wonderful with them. They will always remember you with great love, as I will.”
Jeanette put her head on her mother’s chest and cried quiet tears of joy.
She determined not to waste any more of this precious time with her mother. Once she was gone, there was no way to replace her influence. Once the current decoration demands were met, her work must be set aside in favour of spending hours with the woman who had raised her and was now raising her children.
Matters were advancing at a rapid pace in the Meco house.
Gordon had contacted Gregor Mackintosh, an art and artifact dealer who had been helpful to Anna and Ashley when Lawren Drake’s new sketches were first uncovered.
Gregor expressed interest in Fergus and Shona’s findings and requested photographs be sent to him in Edinburgh along with a section of the Glenmorie Estate map showing the location of the discoveries.
Only a few days went by before Gregor was on the phone. His soft Highland tones were infused with a sense of urgency when Fiona answered.
“Mistress Campbell, I must say this discovery of the children’s has caused something of an upset here among archaeology circles.”
“If I may interrupt for a moment? If you agree to call me Fiona, I will call you Gregor. Is that satisfactory?”
“Why, certainly, Fiona! I apologise for the formality. It’s just been quite exciting to see older experts in Scottish antiquities poring over your photos and arguing the pros and cons of it all.”
“Well, what was the consensus, Gregor?”
Fiona was anxious to get to the point. She had to relate this to her husband and the children later in the day and she needed clarity.
“Of course! All I can say for sure, at this juncture, is that a coterie of experts will descend on Glenmorie within a week if you and the Laird agree.”
“I see. So there is a question of authenticity?”
She meant him to detect the hint of scorn in her voice. No one should be in any doubt about the veracity of the Campbell children if their mother had anything to do with it.
“No, no Fiona! Not at all! These people need to investigate the actual site and determine if there is more there to be revealed. They intend to bring detectorists and some minor excavation equipment with them.”
“Just one minute, Gregor! My husband will not approve of people digging up a probable ancient and sacred site on our estate and leaving destruction behind them. He would far rather leave everything as it is than risk a desecration of that kind.”
There was a pause during which Fiona tried to calm the anger that sprang up in defence of the land she shared, and which was the inheritance of her children.
She heard a string of Gaelic words, sotto voce, on the other end of the line then Gregor Mackintosh returned to insist everything would be done with due deference to the land itself and that she should take this expression of interest from the Scottish Antiquities community as an indicator of how important they believed her children’s discovery could be.
Much mollified by this, Fiona tempered her tone and asked for a day or two to consult with her husband about this development.
“Fine! Fine! There is one more item I must discuss with you at this time.”
He cleared his throat noisily and Fiona got the sense that she was not going to like what came next.
“I have been instructed to inform you that, with the approval of all concerned, of course, a film crew will accompany the experts in order to make a documentary of the proceedings.”