Page 7 of Loyally, Luke
Penelope:Isn’t that the most darling thing ever! Oh, I love him. Well, you know, I don’t LOVE him, but I love him!
Josephine:Well, I knew it was inevitable. I’d resigned myself to you living so far away, but this seems to make it more permanent. It’s a lovely ring. And you two look so happy.
Izzy:He is quite simply the most wonderful man for me. And I’m living my little fairy tale, getting to work with books and marry a bookish man.
Josephine:I am happy for you, dear Izzy. At least I know he’s a perfect match for you.
Penelope:And we can go visit, Josephine!! You’d love Skymar. You’ve always liked oceans and knitted sweaters.
Izzy:We’re not interested in a long engagement. How does the first weekend in June sound to you guys? The twins will be close to a year old by then.
Josephine:That’s only three months away! What sort of wedding do you plan to pull together by then?
Izzy:A simple one fit for us.
Penelope:Matt, Iris, and I were already planning to be in Skymar in June for the annual Darling House theater meeting, so it’s PERFECT!! And I can help with last-minute things! Oh, Izzy! You must let me cybershop with you for the dress!
Izzy:And Luke doesn’t leave until the second week of June so he’ll already be here. We thought that would help with costs! YAY!! Guys! I’m getting MARRIED!!!!
“Grandfather suggested we stop in to see the place before we travel all the way to the cabin.”
Peter MacKerrow drove like he talked. Fast.
Luke took the mental lessons he’d learned from teaching Penelope how to drive and relaxed his body. After surviving Penelope, Luke felt certain God must have a bigger plan for his life, but Pete made him question the notion.
“It’s a good half-hour drive from the cabin to the village of Crieff, so if we want to collect any messages... er... groceries, we ought to do so now.”
Of course, riding with Pete could be character development—Pete took another turn like a Nascar driver—and if that were the case, Luke’s character was strengthening by the second. At Superman speeds.
“Seeing both places should help us with planning.”
Pete nodded, his dark, reddish-brown hair bouncing with the movement. “That’s what Grandfather said too. And, I think, Mr.Holton is to meet us there.” Pete skirted the edge of the road where a rock wall lined the way.
Luke held in a wince, waiting for the side mirror to meet the wall.
There really must be something about red-haired people. Either they lived with incredible security of their eternal destinies, or they didn’t care about destiny at all.
“I can’t believe Grandfather talked the headmistress into getting a second opinion from an outsider,” Pete continued. “But Grandfather seemed to think the other company was trying to undercut the place.He’s had bad dealings with them in the past and didn’t want the orphanage to feel the brunt of a scam.”
Luke looked ahead as the tops of buildings came into view over a thick swath of pine. Scots pine, more sprawling than the Virginia pines back home. A good building lumber, should they need it. Of course, Luke noted some oak and cherry. Birch and willow too. But mostly, pine and oak feathered the way into the village of Crieff.
Like some of the other villages Luke had visited in Skymar, this one boasted a collection of stone buildings with slate roofs and a few with more modern shingles, but were some... thatch? Luke grinned. He’d only seen thatch on historical building shows, not in real life. Kind of gave the town a quaint look.
The village nestled in the crook of the mountains, as if protected by their intimidating heights, a lot like some of the towns back home in the Blue Ridge. Nice and isolated.
Luke relaxed back into the car seat with a smile. No worries about high-class rude airport women here.
“I’ve never been here before, so it’s as new to me as you, but Grandfather shared a lot last night. It’s the largest orphanage in Skymar.” Pete’s bright, pale eyes were alight... and not looking at the road. “Started during World WarI because of the staggering number of orphans left behind, but really grew during the second war.”
An unfortunate byproduct of the two wars, from what Luke remembered from school and information gathered from some of his favorite movies.
The road took them through Crieff and up a tree-lined entrance where a massive building of sandstone with a conglomeration of jagged towers rose into the gray-blue sky. Was that a... castle?
Luke readjusted his expectations to... well, he didn’t have any experience working on castles. Somehow, the stone mixed with sky created a strange picture of the ocean, which suited a castle on an island better than Luke could have imagined.
“Cambric Hall is not as old as it looks,” Pete said, as if reading Luke’s mind. “This folly was built before World War I by a Scot who’d made his money in trade. Grandfather said something like 1905 or ’07... or ’02?”
Okay, so not being very old took some of the intimidation out of the place, but not much. “A folly?”
