Chapter 4: The Will

Bronwyn and Ceridwyn wondered around the old stone house that was now legally theirs. Well.it would be after a year according to Mr. Tavish. The girls still couldn't believe the changes that had occurred in the last month. One day they were living happily in Boston, the next they were in Scotland.

It all happened so suddenly. The girls got a call from their mother asking them to come over to the house for a visit. Emma MacAllister never asked; she demanded. Not in any overt way, but the girls knew better than to ignore their mother.
Like her daughters, Emma MacAllister stood at a towering 5'1". She was kind and caring-and loved her daughters and husband fiercely. She had a slight accent, although Emma would never discuss her childhood with the girls. It was the past. "No use rehashing it," she'd tell them. When they showed up at home, nobody was more surprised than they were when they found their mother silently weeping at the dining room table with a letter in her hand. Immediately Ceridwyn ran to her mothers side to see what had happened. "Is something wrong, is it Dad."
"No, your father's fine, probably on his way home from work," Emma said as she looked up at the clock on the wall."
"Well then what's wrong Mom, why did you want me and Cera here." Bronwyn was now sitting to her mother's right.
"I received a letter today. It seems your grandmother has passed away." Emma choked back the tears forming in her throat.
Neither daughter knew what to say. Their father's mother passed away years ago. They knew their mother was talking about her mother, something she never did.
"I didn't know you kept in touch," Bronwyn gently asked and glanced at her sister, not knowing what else to say.
Emma looked up at her children through her watery eyes. "Your grandmother and I had our differences but she was still my mother."
"Bryn, get us some tea." Emma asked her eldest daughter. "I think it's time I explained about why I never discuss my family."
Cera got up and went for the cups while Bryn poured the steaming water into the teapot. Emma smiled as she remembered the many pots of tea they'd shared over the years. From adolescent crushes to getting into college, the MacAllister women bonded over the teapot.
"I met your father when I was 18 and fell instantly in love," Emma wistfully said as the girls settled down at the table. "He was so handsome. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him that Brian MacAllister was the one for me. I was walking through the village when a strange young man knocked me over with his bicycle. I was standing on the corner by the bakery and started out to cross the road when he came barrelling down the road." The girls chuckled as they pictured their parents first meeting.
Setting her cup down after taking a drink, Emma continued. "He apologized over and over and was more upset than I was. That was when I found out he was American and how long he was staying. Your dad been studying for the semester in Edinburgh and decided to take a holiday with some of his friends before returning to the States." She looked up at the girls. "He rode away after I told him over and over I was okay. I never expected to see him again."
"When did you meet him again?" Cera asked her mother. Both Cera and Bryn were eager to hear the tale. This was the first time their mother had ever opened up about her life in Scotland.
"I'm getting there," Emma replied, smiling at her impatient daughter. "We met a few nights later at the pub. I was there at a booth with my friend Anna and in walks your father and two of his friends. He came over to the table, smiled at me, and we've been together ever since."
"So you came back with Dad when he came home," Bryn commented.

Is that why you never talked to Grandmother? She was upset you left with some foreigner?"
"Well, I didn't immediately come home with your father. But yes, part of the reason we had a falling out was because your dad lived in America. She didn't approve of me marrying someone from across the ocean. Mother took an immediate disliking to Brian. My father was only a little better." Emma answered.
"When did you move then?" Cera inquired, leaning across the table to refill her cup. "You said you'd been seeing him since the pub?"
"After many nights of late night discussions during the last week he was in Scotland, your dad decided to come home and get a job. He had just finished school and had no job or home. He was only 22 himself. So he got a job and a month later I received at letter asking me to marry him. The minute my mother went to the market, I called him and told him yes. The rest is history. The next week I left Scotland and never returned." Emma grabbed her daughters' hands. "I never regret my decision to marry your father."
"Oh mother, I can't imagine never talking to you again," Bryn said. She got up and hugged her mother. Cera followed.
"Well, the story has a little bit of a happy ending. A few years ago I got a letter from my mother. I don't know where she got my address. I never asked. She asked how I was doing and informed me that my father had passed away the previous year. We got to writing back and forth to each other a few times. I guess she wanted some of her family back. She never said she was wrong for never contacting me all those years. I was just happy to hear from her," Emma explained. "She was my mother after all."
A sound from the hallway had the three women turn their head. "Hey, how are my girls," Brian MacAllister asked his daughters as they hugged him. He was still very handsome Bryn thought as she sat back down at the table.
"Mom's been telling us how you guys met." Bryn informed her dad.
"Its so romantic, love at first sight," Cera exclaimed as her parents chuckled. "I didn't know stuff like that existed."
"I'm just irresistable to women," their dad replied jokingly. "Did you tell them about.?" Brian asked his wife.
"No, I was just getting to that part when you walked in." Emma responded. "Your dad was hear at lunch so he knows about your grandmother. He was here when I got the mail." She continued on, "What I didn't tell you was what it contained."
"What?" both girls asked simulataniously.
"It was from my mother's solicitor. He informed me about her passing, but he also said there was a will. It seems Mother has left all her property to you girls."
The girls looked at each other, both dumbfounded.
"So we inherited a little cottage in Scotland," Bryn inquired while looking back and forth between her parents.
"Not exactly a cottage." Their mother replied while their father chuckled.
"If I remember correctly," their dad said with a smile on his face, "there is a cottage on the property."
"What!" Cera exclaimed.
"What exactly did we inherit?" Bryn asked.
"You've inherited a 10 bedroom stone house on the Isle of Skye, along with about 25 acres."
"Oh my," Bryn said while sitting down on the chair nearest to her.
"It's absolutely beautiful there," Emma smiled remember her days as a child. "It's not a large estate, but it's a big house. There is a stipulation."
"What is it?" Cera asked.
"You have to live there for a year in order to gain title to the land." Emma informed her children. "Both of you."
"I just can't pick up and leave my job for a year." Bryn cried. "And Cera still has a semester left of school, she can't leave."
"Well, lets have dinner and forget about it for awhile," Emma said. "You girls need some time for it to digest and make a decision together."
Bryn asked while setting the table "How long do we have to think about it before we have to decide?"
"A week," her mother answered.
"A week," Cera repeated while she was helping to get dinner on the table A few hours later, the MacAllisters watched their daughters drive away. "Why didn't you tell them everything?" Brian asked his wife, looking down at her from the doorway. "They'll find out soon enough." Emma said. She wrapped her arm around her husband's waist as they walked back inside.

A month later, Bronwyn and Ceradwyn MacAllister were roaming around their ancient stone cottage, wondering just what they had gotten themselves into.