Evan howled with laughter and slapped his knee.
Sophia smiled, slightly amused by Evan’s antics.
“I don’t get it.” Tiffannee grimaced. “Why couldn’t the Englishman understand him the first time? What do the Scottish have against the English?”
“Just about everything,” Evan answered, still laughing. “They’re all posh with their snooty little pinkies in the air when drinking their tea, chatting about their quidditch matches, and worrying if a fly gets into their beer.”
“I don’t think the English play quidditch,” Tiffannee said smugly.
“That’s your takeaway from what Dork Face said?” Sophia asked incredulously.
“I don’t think quidditch is a real game, is it?” Tiffannee continued as if she hadn’t heard Sophia, which was a possibility since the rain came down harder now. “Do magicians ride brooms?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Evan answered. “I have a magical dragon that I ride, remember?”
“Why didn’t we ride the dragons to wherever we’re going?” The whiny tone in Tiffannee’s voice grew.
“It’s not much farther,” Sophia replied, not wanting to admit that it was because she didn’t want to tax Lunis to fly with his injured leg unless it was necessary. The climb up the hill became more difficult as the rain made the ground slippery underfoot. Sophia leaned forward and put her head down to help with the momentum.
Tiffannee was really lagging now. Sophia halted near the top and turned to watch the mortal lumber up the hill.
“I’ll push you if you want,” Evan offered while easily striding beside her as if they were merely strolling.
The doctor shook her head. She appeared out of breath, her face red and rain drenching it.
“Okay, then, I’ll entertain you,” Evan stated good-naturedly. “Speaking of the English. An Englishman, Irishman, and a Scot are in a bar. They each have a pint of beer and three flies land in each of theirs.”
“At the same time?” Tiffannee interrupted between labored breaths. “It’s unlikely that there would be three flies that all land in three beers at the same time.”
“Again, your takeaways say a lot about you,” Sophia said dryly and glanced over her shoulder to study the area they’d come to.
“Anyway,” Evan continued. “The Englishman pushes the beer away, totally repulsed. The Irishman picks the fly out of his glass and flicks it away. The Scot picks the fly up and holds it over his beer and says, ‘All right then, spit it all out.’”
Sophia couldn’t help but laugh. She found it pretty endearing that Evan was trying so hard to entertain the mortal to take her mind off the arduous hike. However, Dr. Freud didn’t seem as appreciative of his efforts. She simply grunted in reply to the joke.
The rain let up quite suddenly when Sophia pulled out the Hidden Places map book, which she was grateful for. The timing of the rain halting when they reached the top of Holyrood Hill was ironic, as it tended to be in Sophia’s world.
The thistle on the map glowed briefly followed by the words Blather’s Location. According to everything that Sophia could tell, they were right on top of the place. She glanced around and looked for a thistle or this Blathers. Wet grass and stones covered the hill, but no flowers. A large pillar-like rock in the center seemed strangely out of place.
Sophia strode over to it and left Evan with Tiffannee, who had made it to the top of the hill and was catching her breath.
“That’s odd,” Sophia commented mostly to herself as she noticed how the boulder resembled a door. As she got closer, she realized that a small seam looked like a doorway, and toward the center was something that was undeniably a door handle and lock.
Instinctively, she reached out and tried to turn the knob. It didn’t budge. It was locked, which meant that somewhere around on Holyrood Hill there had to be a key. They merely had to find it.
Chapter Thirty-One
“What do you mean we need a key?” Tiffannee asked when Sophia explained what she thought was going on.
“That’s a door,” Sophia stated and watched as the mortal circled the boulder.
“But there’s nowhere it can lead to.” Dr. Freud sounded confused as she came around the other side. “This stone is only, like, five feet wide.”
“Doors in the magical world are more like portals,” Evan explained while casually leaning against the rock.
“I’d guess that it probably leads to this Blather’s location,” Sophia mused.
“And that is?” Tiffannee asked.
Sophia shrugged. “Who knows?”
The psychiatrist shot her an annoyed expression. “How can you not know what you’re looking for?”
“I rarely know the answer to these things.” Sophia laughed. “Being a dragonrider is mostly about having a lot of blind faith.”
Evan tossed his head in the direction of the door where he was leaning. “So, this key. Where do you think it will be?”
Sophia spun in a complete circle to take in the rest of the hill where they stood. There wasn’t much there besides the boulder. “I left my metal detector at the Castle.”
“How do you know we need to go through that door?” Tiffannee squeezed the excess water from her hair.
Sophia noticed something coming up over the ridge in the distance but couldn’t make it out completely because it was still a fair distance away and somewhat blended into the stone path around it. “Because we’re in the right location and this is our only option.”
“I could try my lock-picking skills again,” Evan offered.
Sophia shook her head and continued to focus on the large thing approaching. It grew bigger as it came into view. “That didn’t work the last few times, so I think you have to cut your losses and hone other skills, like table manners and how to play the quiet game.”
Evan scoffed. “That sounds boring. I’ll devote my precious time to honing my nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, and computer hacking skills. You know girls only want a husband who has great skills, isn’t that right, Tiff?”
“Call me Dr. Freud,” she replied dryly.
“How romantic,” Evan joked. “You can call me Mr. Evan because I don’t want my wife having to deal with too many formalities.”
“You two are a romance for the storybooks.” Sophia stepped forward as the horns of the large Highland cow came into view from the distance on the other side of the hill. The cows were mostly brown, covered in long shaggy hair, and known for how docile they were. For that reason, the sight of the cow approaching at a fast trot didn’t unnerve her at first. When the beast broke into a sprint and raced at them like it was planning to bowl them over, Sophia tensed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Highland cow’s eyes flashed red as it raced in their direction, making it evident to Sophia that there was something unusual about the animal. It was definitely supernatural since it moved at a much faster rate than should have been possible based on its size.
Sophia reacted fast as she pushed Tiffannee behind the large boulder and leapt up onto it. Her hands grabbed the top, and in one swift movement, she swung her legs around and climbed on top.