THE TIME BEFORE THE FUTURE – PART 19 "Hello, Kilwillie Castle. Badger speaking. How may I assist you?" "Badger? It's Duncan Mackay from Glenbogle. Can I speak to Lord Kilwillie please? It's urgent!" May I ask why sir?" the old butler asked somewhat surprised. Duncan explained & Badger was even more surprised: "Let me just get this clear. Young Mr. Macdonald needs Lord Kilwillie down by your Loch at Glenbogle as soon as possible because something of young Master Jamie's has been found?" It was then that Duncan realised that Kilwillie was well within earshot of the conversation: "WHAT! Badger, bring the car right around! I'll drive!" For the second time in two days Lexie found her heart hamming, but this time with nerves not excitement. She also had a horrible fluttering feeling in her stomach this time though; she knew that any mention of Jamie would bring down the invisible barrier between Hector & Archie again. As she held on for grim death behind Duncan on the quad-bike Lexie bit her lip & willed the bike to speed up. It was one of those moments when the oddest things seem to pop into one's head & all Lexie could think about was whether she would be able to fight the now instinctive urge to run straight to Archie's side. She would, she decided, go immediately to Molly & put a blanket around Lady MacDonald's shoulders. Molly would understand. The box appeared to be made of red tin with what once would have been painted with a white 'J' on the lid. As Archie carefully cleared the earth away, he found himself trying to avoid his father's eye. It felt like he had been caught doing something wrong; though of course he knew he hadn't. The thought crossed his mind that Lizzie would need to be told, about everything. The lid of the box was now clear but yielded no more clues as to the contents. Suddenly Archie felt a hand on his shoulder & Golly silently took over the digging. Archie wouldn't have wanted to speak even if he had the breath & only when he had done his turn did he risk a look at his parents. They were standing side by side, a few paces back for safety's sake, with the dogs at their feet. His mother looked pale & anxious & his father looked tense. Even though Golly was not tired, he left the last few spadefuls to Archie, because that was the right thing to do. It was then that the engine of the quad-bike broke the expectant silence. Lord Killwillie didn't drive himself very often & as a consequence of that & his nervous state his steering was even more erratic than ever. He was certain that he would have much less shaken if Badger had announced that a monster had been found in Loch Bogle; but this! This went to the very core of who his best friends (surrogate family) were & they had asked for him, Kilwillie! He couldn't remember anyone ever having asked for him before! One thing he did notice though; Hectors man Mackay had said that Archie had asked for him. That, to Kilwillie, meant not a snub from Hector, but instead that the younger man was now truly the Laird. Whatever had been found, be it a rag or a dinkie toy, it would as precious as gold to Hector, & especially Molly because it had belonged to Jamie. It would mean a lot to Kilwillie to, for Jamie had been his Godson; Archie's Godfather was 1 of Hectors old army pals. Kilwillie had just blared his horn to move some stubborn sheep off the road, when he saw the MacDonald family Land Rover, up on some high ground near the Loch. He noticed to that Duncan & Lexie were getting off a quad-bike to join the group. Parking a little way away, he took a deep breath, braced himself for what was to come & got out of the car. TO BE CONTNUED...