Just Beyond Tomorrow Read Free Page B

but he will not find them if I remain to keep him in comfort. I intend to take Adali, Rohana, and Toramalli with me.”
    â€œPatrick should have been married long since,” the Dowager Countess of BrocCairn said irritably. “You and Jemmie spoilt him and allowed him to run wild. What will happen when you are gone, I do not know, but I do not think you should run off, Jasmine.”
    Jasmine bid her mother, her half-brothers, and their families farewell. Then she returned to Glenkirk, having firmly made her decision. She called the servants who had been with her her entire life and told them of her resolve to depart Glenkirk. “I want you with me.”
    â€œWhere else would we go if not with you, my princess,” her steward, Adali, said. He was very old now, but still very active and in complete charge of the household as he had been since coming to Glenkirk. “We have been yours since your birth. We will remain with you until the great God separates us from one another.”
    Jasmine blinked back the mist she felt rising in her eyes. It was the first true emotion she had shown since her husband had died. “Thank you, Adali,” she said softly. Then she turned to her two maidservants, who were equally ancient. “What of you, my dearest Rohana and Toramalli?”
    The twin sisters chorused as one, “We will go with you, lady. Like Adali, we are yours till death.”
    Rohana had remained a maiden all her long life, but her twin had married a Leslie man-at-arms. They had no children, but had raised a niece.
    â€œToramalli,” her mistress asked, “are you certain? Fergus may not want to come with me. He has scarcely left Glenkirk lands all of his life. You must consult with him before you give me your answer.”
    â€œFergus will come,” Toramalli said firmly. “We have no bairns or grandchildren to leave behind, and Lily is already in England with Lady Autumn. We have just our little family made up of my sister and our good Adali. We have been together too long to be separated now.”
    â€œI am grateful to you all,” the Dowager Duchess of Glenkirk said to her faithful retainers. “Tomorrow we will begin to pack.”
    She ascended to the top of the castle that afternoon, clambering up a ladder that led to the parapets of the west tower. Breathless, she reached the roof and climbed out onto it. Behind her the skies were darkening. In the east was the evening star, large, and bright, and cold. Before her the sun was setting in a glorious spectacle of blazing colors. Fiery red-orange was streaked with deep slashes of purple. Above it the sky was still a rich cerulean blue and filled with gold-edged pink clouds that floated all the way to the horizon.
    Jasmine sighed as she looked out over the forested hills that surrounded Glenkirk. She had been truly happy these many, many years at Glenkirk. She had lived here longer than anyplace else in her whole life, but she had lived here with Jemmie. Suddenly, with his death, Glenkirk seemed foreign to her. She knew she had to get away. She didn’t know if she would ever come back, whatever she might say to others. Glenkirk would never be the same for her without James Leslie. She sighed deeply again and turned back to the trapdoor leading into the castle. If she stayed here too long, poor Adali would attempt to climb up to find her. With a final glance at the majestic scene surrounding her, Jasmine began her descent. She wanted to talk to Patrick now.
    She found her son in the Great Hall, seated by one of the two fireplaces. “I have come to a decision,” she told him. “I am leaving Glenkirk as soon as my belongings can be packed.” She sat herself in the high-backed chair opposite him.
    Patrick Leslie looked up at his mother. He was a handsome man with his father’s dark hair and green eyes. “Where will ye go?” he asked her. “I dinna want ye to go, Mother. I know I am a