Dragoona Island:Finding My Dragon Mate

Dragoona Island - Episode 3 - Cassie

The last three days had passed by in a flurry of activity. I had finally called Beth back and told her my plans. She was shocked, but excited for me also. When I told her what I still had to do before I left for Scotland, she very kindly offered to help. At first, I refused because I did not want her to see me in such an emotional state, which I knew I would be clearing out my mom’s belongings. Beth had insisted though, she said she did not mind, plus she thought I could really do with some support. That,, I could not argue with.

Beth arrived early the next morning, she had taken time off work and even managed to rope her brother Antony in to helping me too. He had his work vehicle and offered to bring the furniture and other things I wanted to keep to the storage unit. I had leased it for 6 months till I found a new apartment. If things went well in Scotland, I may extend my trip, but if it were a dead end, I could be back within a week. I pushed that thought away though, I had a feeling I was going to find the one thing I had always felt was missing from my life.

A family.

With Beth and Antony’s help, I managed to achieve what seemed like the unachievable a couple of days ago. I looked around my mom’s now empty house, it felt so strange, like I was finally saying goodbye to her properly. I grabbed my passport off the counter and walked over to secure it in my hand luggage before I forgot it. That would be a disastrous start to my adventure. I also packed the gold box and its contents into my hand luggage. I was still wearing the gold dragon pendant; I did not feel right taking it off now. As soon as I put it on, it felt like it was a part of me, like it was meant to be found and worn by me.  It was a feeling I couldn’t explain, it just felt like I was destined to wear it. I could not help but notice there was a dragon theme too. The gold dragon on the ticket, the dragon pendant, even the box everything was inside, was opulent and made of solid gold. Was my family royalty? Was the dragon their royal crest? A buzz of excitement shot through me at the thought. Which was followed by a wave pf panic. What if they did not want to know me? It would explain why my mom never spoke about them. My mom did not speak about her own family either, so maybe I was worrying over nothing.

I grabbed my coat, I put my others into storage along with the bulk of my clothing. The coat I kept was one that my mom bought me when we lived in Duluth. I had a feeling Scotland could get Duluth cold too. I had packed all my warm jumpers, jeans, boots and scarfs. I also added a couple of sleeveless shirts and a few dresses just in case I had a reason to wear them. I hoped I would.

I called a cab and left a note for the realtor, I had already left instructions on what offer would be accepted and what to do with the money once the sale went through. The rest I was leaving in their capable hands. I took one last look around the house then wheeled my case to the door. There was a tiny vase on the table by the door that had hand painted violets on it. I decided to pick it up and put it in my hand luggage too, it just felt like the right thing to do.

The cab was there by the time I reached the end of the driveway. I then had to use all my strength to lift the suitcase into the trunk. Being only 5ft 4, the case was almost bigger than me! I climbed into the back seat and told the driver to take me to JFK. He of course took this as a reason to start talking to me, asking where I was going, was it a holiday. I was answering his questions as politely as I could, but my nerves were kicking in now. The reality of what I was about to do hitting me full force. I was going all the way to Scotland - on my own - to go to a tearoom where my mom had ordered a coffee and banana loaf on one occasion. Was I completely insane? No wonder Beth had asked if I had been taking any prescription drugs, what I was doing seemed crazy and completely out of character for me.  

I was glad when the driver finally became too distracted in rush hour traffic to keep asking me questions. I rested my head back against the seat and thought of what I would do when I finally reached the tearoom. What would I do? Just walk in and say, ‘Do you remember an American woman that ordered coffee and banana loaf in here one day?’

I am sure they had American tourists in their tearoom all the time. Luckily, I had a photo of my mom tucked inside the gold box along with the handsome man’s photo, who I was more certain than ever, was my father. I had taken some other photos of my mom and I over the years in my bag too, they were all I had left of her now.

When we finally reached the airport, I felt like my stomach was doing a full Olympic gymnastics routine, including handsprings and triple somersaults. I felt so nauseous, I knew I should probably go to the restroom before heading to check in my luggage. I am not the most confident of people, so going halfway across the world on my own, was like climbing Mount Everest in roller skates, am uphill struggle.

I went to the restroom, splashed cold water on my face, brushed my hair and tied it up in a messy bun and applied a bit of lip gloss. I rarely wear makeup, but I kind of wanted to make myself feel better, weirdly lip gloss helped.

After checking in successfully, I was now sitting drinking bottled water and reading a magazine trying to keep my mind occupied. I had also bought a book about Scotland on my way to the departure lounge, I decided to read up on Scottish culture and history. It might turn out I am part Scottish, so I wanted to know a bit more about the country I was destined for. Would I understand their accent? Would they understand mine? Did all the men wear kilts and have big beards like they do in Braveheart, or was that just how they dressed before jeans and shirts were invented? I was excited to find out. I could not wait to hear the accents, enjoy the culture and who knows, maybe I could find myself a handsome Scotsman too. I blushed at the thought of a big muscly Scotsman, throwing me over his shoulder like those big logs they like to throw around just for fun. I was still a virgin, so the fantasy alone was enough to send a rush of heat to my face… and other places. I took another large gulp of water, hoping to douse the fire coming from between my legs. No more thoughts of big handsome Scottish men manhandling me. Phew!

As I heard my call to board, it struck me that I had never looked at the date on the receipt, that could be a clue as to when my mom visited Scotland. I was hoping it was around about the same time she would have gotten pregnant with me. I reached inside my bag, careful not to lift the entire box out. I did not want to draw attention to myself, A glowing solid gold box would draw unwanted attention.

I carefully pulled the receipt out and looked for a date. My eyes scanned across the receipt till I landed on the date stamped on the bottom, right above the address. I blinked and blinked again; this can’t be right? My mom was at Aggie’s Tearoom over sixty years ago, I was twenty-four now, so that would mean that my mom had me when she was fifty-nine? I had never thought about this before, but in all the photos of me as a baby mom looked so young, there is no way she was almost sixty years old.

My stomach began to churn again, what was I missing? Maybe she just had an excellent skin care regime and that is why her skin looked so flawless and youthful. If my mom was in her fifties when she had me, then her trip to Scotland was not when she fell pregnant. Maybe this is all a stupid mistake, maybe I should not be going all the way to Scotland. What if there is nothing to find there?

Suddenly the pendant round my neck began to feel hot, sending pleasurable tingles throughout my entire body.

Was the pendant sensing my doubt and was giving me some reassurance?