“What is a vessel? Like a boat?”
She shook her head. “Nae, never mind, but if ye find anything else that seems odd or unnerving, just send me a message. This is verra helpful.”
Blakely said, “I’m glad sending the message helped you, I just don’t really understandhowit helped.”
Lady Mairead said, “Tis because ye daena need tae ken anything else about it. This is private historical business, life and death historical business. Ye must let me ken as soon as ye learn anything.”
She hung up, without sayin’ goodby.
Blakely turned tae me with her eyes wide. “What in the world is going on?”
I ran my hand through my hair. “How does Lizbeth from... when was she livin’?”
“Few hundred years ago, atleast, unless… is there a more recent Lizbeth and Sean? Do you remember?”
“I daena think so, but I wasna looking.”
“This is the weirdest job. Now you’re going to have a title?”
“I canna believe it. She wants me tae be an earl? I daena think she understands who I am.”
Blakely said, “You’ll make a great earl, I think… but then again I’m American, I don’t really know what that is.”
“An earl is third rank from a king, I was a groundskeeper just last year.”
“And she’s giving us a whole new bank account? She barely even knows us.”
She typed on her laptop.
I asked, “What ye lookin’ up?”
“The bank where she said there was a... Damn, look at this bank. It’s the oldest bank in the UK.”
“It daena look like the kind of bank where ye log in and check yer balance. The chairs are too expensive.”
Her laptop dinged.
There was another incoming video call from Lady Mairead.
Blakely answered.
Lady Mairead said, “I wanted tae clarify something with ye. Are we alone, nae one will overhear?”
I said, “Aye, we are alone.”
“Good, I will be absolutely truthful with ye. We are time travelers.”
She paused and we were quiet.
Then I broke the silence. “What dost ye mean, time travelers? Like ye go around in costumes, pretending tae live in the past?”
“Nae, we hae vessels that take us forward and back through time.”
Blakely said, “That’s not true.”
“I assure ye tis as true as I am speaking tae ye from m’desk in the year 2391, yet I was born in 1660.”
Blakely said, “I need some kind of proof.”
