– A Sneak Peek –

Copyright © Lynn Crain. All rights reserved.

“Come on, we’re going to be late! You’re the one who wanted to go to this thing. Besides, it’s the dead of night, so who’s going to see us?”

Rachel frowned at her best friend, Samantha Andrews, again. Yes, she was the one who wanted to go to the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge. Who wouldn’t if their birthday fell on June twenty-first and they happened to be in the area? Last time they’d come to England in June, they avoided the place because of the massive crowds attending the event. This time there was no way she would miss the opportunity.

“I’m almost done.” She sighed. This was the best it would get. She glanced at herself in the mirror of the bathroom in the luxurious bed-and-breakfast that had been their home for the past week. Everyone told her she’d gone from frumpy to svelte in the last year, but she couldn’t see what they meant.

“You’d think you’re meeting a lover or something.” Samantha stood in the doorway and tapped her foot impatiently. “Come on, Rach, you look beautiful. I envy your curves.”

Rachel smiled at her in the mirror. “You’re only saying that because you love me.” She wiggled her eyebrows and the women burst into laughter.

“No really, you are. You’ve changed so much this past year. Still, we need to leave if we’re ever going to get there and through the gates before the sun rises. Do you have the tickets?”

They had applied to get special passes to participate with the group performing ancient celebrations at the site. The members of the large group were as close to Druids as anyone could be, considering that not much was left in the way of their history. And from everything she’d read about the ceremony, it was a very special and personal event.

She nodded, straightened her shoulders, and brushed her hair away from her face, determined not to worry about her appearance. “I do, and I know what you’re talking about. I have changed. I just feel weird about it, that’s all. Especially when someone calls me beautiful. I’ve just never seen myself that way.”

Samantha clutched her arm, smiling at her reflection. “Come on, how many people can say their birthday is on summer solstice? So what? You have baggage. I do too, now let’s get going before we miss the whole celebration.”

“I know you’re right. I’m just not going to participate in the getting naked part. Okay?” She was relieved when her friend nodded her agreement. One more glance in the mirror and she pulled the steely reserve around herself that she normally used in the courtroom. Today was the day to have fun and no worries. Today was her day; she wasn’t going to let the past cloud it in any way. Smiling, she grabbed her backpack from the bed and headed for the door. “Let’s go.”

Their drive through the English countryside was always an adventure from start to finish. First, they had to drive on the wrong side of the road. The narrow roads barely managed two compact cars, let alone anything bigger. Rachel and Samantha dodged the predawn traffic racing along the Salisbury Plains to get to their destination. Thank God, they only had a short distance to go through the darkness of the night. The only thing piercing the shadows were the stars that shone bright in the night sky.