Cedric closed his eyes and thought for a moment. It wasn't easy to start with a story and he wanted to explain Gwynna as much as possible because secretly he had the hope that she would not only understand him but perhaps follow him. For too long he had been alone, but in the end he had been abandoned by the inhabitants of his village, who could neither read nor write.
"As a child, I wanted to explore the world. Find my roots. You know our family comes from Scotland?" "Yes, I heard that."
"Well, the Moray family belongs to the Fraser clan, a famous Highlander clan."
"I didn't know that. Mom told me about Scotland, she was there with Dad once, but I didn't hear anything else about it."
"You were little when she died. She would have told you more later. Anyway, as a young man I started to study old languages and to deal with the European peoples. Then one day I was in Ireland at a flea market when an old man came up to me and asked me if I didn't want to buy a book from him. He looked terribly neglected and stank of alcohol, but the book he showed me was ancient and apparently valuable. So I gave him 50 pounds and took the book.
It dates from the 16th century and was handwritten, a biography of a certain Malcolm Fraser. Partly very difficult to read, but I was able to decipher some passages. And what was there made me speechless.
"What was it?"
"He wrote of a way to travel through time, to an earlier place. He said he tried it himself. He also gave detailed instructions."
Gwynna looked up. "Please? That's not possible. A time machine, for instance?"
"No, no time machine. A magic formula that allows you to open a time portal, used by the druids and even by Merlin himself."
Gwynna snorted. "Merlin ? King Arthur? And now the Holy Grail will surely come?"
Cedric looked at her gruffly. "Speak no nonsense, there is no King Arthur, nor a Holy Grail. But Merlin existed."
"Well, if you say so."
"The knowledge of mankind has often been lost over time, so whatever the ancestors knew can be forgotten today. Remember that."
"It's all right. So Merlin lived. What's next?"
"I tried the formula. And it worked."
Gwynna sat up straight and stared at Cedric with big eyes. There was dead silence in the park, as if all the animals would hold their breath.
"You're seriously telling me you traveled back in time?"
"Did I not tell you not to interrupt me? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. On a full moon night I painted a pentagram into a stone circle in Fermanagh, threw various herbs into the pentagram and spoke the magic formula. What you saw earlier, the blue light, is the time tunnel.
The light drew me in and into the tunnel. I fainted, the suction was so strong. When I regained consciousness, I was lying in a forest near a village. The priest found me and brought me to the village elder - mayor one would probably say today. A man named Adalgod. A Saxon. He spoke Old High German, which I did not understand, but the priest could speak some Latin and so I could find out that I had landed in 1490".
Cedric stretched out his legs and shifted his sitting posture.
"I wasn't sure why I had arrived there and at that time and the environment wasn't necessarily my taste either. People were very surprised at my clothes, but after I had told them that I was a healer, well not really, they took me in their midst. I got a small empty hut and could live a simple life there. For my "healings" I got food and sometimes fabric for new clothes. Over time, I also learned the language and thus got to know the people better. Simple people but friendly and hard-working. There was also a new master. One year before my arrival he had occupied the castle and killed the old count, since his land bordered on that of the old count. He was often not present, but finally I saw him. One day he rode through the village with his followers. The horses' hooves shook the earth and I swear I've never seen a more fearsome warrior. He wore an animal skull as a helmet and his black cape blew over the back of his horse.
They did not stop, but moved towards the castle. Later the village elder told me that the lord would never stay in the village. Only his men would occasionally come to the inn. Well, more on that later."
Cedric looked at Gwynna expectantly. "Now you may ask."
"So why there and in this very time?"
"It was not clear to me for a long time, but then I understood that it had to do with the new master. He had a close relationship with our ancestral clan, the Frasers. Apparently there must be some connection to the family to get to a certain place."
"How long did you live there?"
"Twenty years."
"What? Are you trying to fool me?" Gwynna looked at her uncle angrily and jumped up. "You're ten years older than my mother. My mother would be 52 today if she were still alive and you don't look like a man of 62!"
Cedric sighed again. "I know, kid. I don't know what to say. I haven't aged since my trip back. I can't explain it either. But it is so. Unfortunately the villagers also noticed this and their friendliness turned into hatred, so that I had to leave my hut in the village and moved into the forest. The village eldest, Adalgod, had died in the meantime, as had the priest, and the new eldest, his son Konrad, was much less well disposed towards me.
They probably would have killed me soon if a huge blond Viking hadn't stood in front of my door one day. He forced me to come to the castle because the master's horse was ill. It had an abscess on its hoof, which I was fortunate enough to treat, so that from then on the count had me occasionally come to the castle to check on the animal.
That saved me from Konrad's wrath. Because when the horse was healthy, the count was often on the road and did not attack the..."
Cedric cleared his throat in embarrassment. "...ahem, you know."
Gwynna slowly sat down again. "You mean he rapes the village girls?"
"I-I heard some things. But we shouldn't talk about that."
"And why are you here again? How did you manage to get back?"
"Basically the same way. But there was no stone circle there, so that I first had to look for a place steeped in history to venture the way. It's not possible everywhere, but amazingly, it's possible here. Maybe because you're here. You're all the family I've got since your mother died."
"But I've lived in New York for years."
"Yet you've spent most of your life here so far. And your presence is strong."
"You didn't answer my question. Why did you come back?"
"Call it longing. I might have wanted to go back."
"And why didn't you just go to my grandparents' house? Why did we have to meet here? That doesn't make any sense to me."
"I can only meet here, Gwynna, because I can't leave the portal environment. It's like a magnet pulling me back in. I tried. As soon as I move more than twenty meters away from it, this suction begins. My steps become slower, it feels like my feet are fixed to the floor with glue. I can't get away. And I'll grow old as soon as I get here."
"How many times have you come back so far? Always here or somewhere else?"
"I can only open the portal here. Today is the third time. The first time I tried to bring you a letter to your grandparents' house, but I couldn't get away. I put it in the tree, but when I was here the second time, hoping someone had found it and brought it to you, it was still there. I then deposited the blanket here, because I really can't take much with me, otherwise I can't get through the tunnel, because the objects from the past increase the suction again.
Fortunately it wasn't that late in the evening, so a teenager ran into me and I gave him a coin and asked him to deliver the letter to your grandparents. I don't have any stamps."
"As you can see, I got it." Gwynna thoughtfully supported her hand under her chin.
"I don't know what to think of this, Uncle Cedric. This all sounds way too fantastic for me."
Cedric looked at her. "I know. I'm sorry. But who should I tell if not my only relative? I brought you the book with my notes and translations. Read it if you want. Even if you don't believe me, it was nice to see you again after such a long time."
The candle began to flicker slowly. "Oh, it's time. I have to go."
Gwynna looked at him. "You're going back?"
"I have to. I've been there too long. I live there. It's simple but it's good. And I like that. I wouldn't be able to handle this anymore. And how could I explain to the local park attendants why I live next to an oak tree?" Cedric smiled wistfully and stood up.
Gwynna did the same to him. "Will I see you again?"
"Is that what you want?"
"You could tell me more about the people there. History has always been my favorite subject at school."
Cedric approached her closer and grasped her chin.
"I'd love to see you again. But not so fast. It's very exhausting for me to travel through the time tunnel. In three months to the full moon at the same time, would that be all right?"
Gwynna smiled. "I'll try to come." She turned her face away. "But I don't have my flashlight anymore. How am I supposed to find my way back in the dark?"
"Here." Cedric handed her the lantern. "Take it. The light of the candle should still be enough for the way back."
Just when he had spoken the last words, the light behind the oak intensified. Cedric turned around again and waved to her.
"See you soon, niece!" Immediately afterwards the light had swallowed him up and darkness spread.
Gwynna stared into the darkness, then lifted the lantern and lit the way back to her car.