Within minutes, the physician's medication knocked me out.
It was dark when I finally awoke.
For several wonderful moments, I simply remained on my back, staring at the details of the ancient jail cell's stone ceiling, luxuriating in the blessed relief of having been pardoned from the pain.
The migraine's passed, eh?"
I sat up slowly and looked across the darkened corridor into Angus's cell.
"I'd see a doctor aboot those if I wis you." Angus said, pressing his face between the iron bars. "I wis boffin a Welsh woman for a time, an' she suffered the same ailment. Said it wis brought on by her menstrual cycle. Naturally, I avoided her time o' the month after that. Ye're no' on the rag, are ye, Lassie?"
"I knew better than to come back, I knew you'd never change. You really set me up good this time, didn't you, Angus?"
"Och! Ye set yersel' up. How long were ye plannin' on livin' wi' yer wee secret anyway? Another seventeen years?"
"What secret? Wake up, old man, there never was a monster, not then, not now. Putting me on the witness stand won't change the fact that you killed a man, whether by accident or choice."
"Ye're still too feart tae remember, is that it?" He glared at me from his cell, his blue eyes aglitter in the florescent light. "These migraines are yer brain's way o' avoidin' the past. Same thing happened after the first accident. Headaches anytime ye tried tae talk aboot whit happened. 'Course, they were nothin' compared tae yer nightmares."
"Nightmares?" I sat up in bed, my heart racing. "I had night terrors back then, too?"
"Aye. Ye used tae wake up, screamin' bloody murder. Thank Jesus yer mother finally took ye tae America, it wis a' I could dae tae get a guid night's rest. When that creature bit ye—"
"Nothing bit me! These aren't teeth marks, Angus, they're puncture wounds, scars from the barbed wire. I must've swam right through its coils as I surfaced."
He shook his head sadly. "As a bairn ye could hide frae the truth, it's no' sae easy as an adult. This Sargasso drownin', it's forcin' back the memories, isn't it? Dinnae deny it, lad, I can see it in yer eyes. This time roond, ye've got tae face yer demons."
"You're one to give advice."
"Frae where I'm standin', we're baith in prison, only yours is up here," he said, tapping his head.
"As you said, I'm not a child any more, so keep playing your mind games, I'm immune. As for your doubts about the barbed wire, try reading the damn medical report. The doctor who stitched me up—"
"Doctor?" Angus bellowed a laugh. "Ye call Ryan Hornsby a doctor? Hornsby's a vet'rinarian, he worked on farm animals. Highlanders like us used him 'cause we couldnae afford tae pay real doctors."
"He was still a medical professional."
"Open yer eyes, laddie. The only reason Alban MacDonald brought ye tae Hornsby was 'cause he's kin, an', o' course, he's Templar, which means he'd take the truth tae the grave wi' him… or a'ready did, seein' as he croaked last year."
"Save your breath, Angus. I'm not buying into it."
"What still gets me is how ye managed tae escape. I mean, sweet Jesus, look at them scars, it's like the De'il tasted ye an' spat ye back oot."
"I saw the medical report, Angus. It said barbed wire."
"Aye. Hornsby wrote whit he was telt."
"Enough already! Even if he was a veterinarian, why would Hornsby listen to a water bailiff and risk losing his license?"
"Because, Judy, Alban MacDonald wisnae jist a water bailiff, he's also Priest Knight o' the Templar."
"I don't understand?"
"Ye've never heard o' the Knights Templar?"
"I've heard of them, sure, but what do they have to do with Loch Ness?"
Angus shook his head. "A genius when it comes tae sea creatures, but ye're lost when it comes tae yer ain folk, are ye no'?" He moved away from the bars, sitting on the edge of his mattress. "Pay attention, Gracie, an' jist maybe yer auld man'll teach ye somethin'. The Order o' the Knights wis officially founded in Jerusalem back in the early 1100s, roond the end o' the First Crusade. I say officially, 'cause they'd been roond long afore that, goin' back tae the days o' Saint Columba hi'sel'. They were part-warrior, part-monk, an' a' chivalrous, dedicated tae protecting Christians makin' the pilgrimage tae the Temple o' Solomon. King Baldwin II o' Jerusalem offered them a hame in the temple, an' livin' on alms, they became kent as the Poor Knights o' the Temple."
"What does any of this have to do with—"
"Patience, Sally, patience. Now some ten years after he formed the Knights, Hughes de Paynes traveled tae Europe, seekin' new recruits. In France, he joined forces wi' another monk, Bernard de Clairvaux, an' his Cistercian brotherhood. Vowin' tae fight in Christ's name against evil, the Knights successfully recruited thoosands intae the Order, a' donnin' the white vestments, now adorned wi' the Knighthood's red cross. Now in 1139, the Pope, Innocent II, he decides it's best if he took control o' the Templars. First thing he does is exclude them frae taxation, which allowed them tae accumulate great wealth. Bein' clever sorts, the Knights adopted the practice o' lendin' money usin' interest terms, practically inventin' modern-day bankin' in the process. The order became rich an' quite powerful, an' their numbers swelled, neither o' which wis appreciated by France's King Phillip the Fair, an ambitious bastard if ever there wis one. Phillip coveted the Knights' accumulated wealth, an' it wis he who gave Friday the thirteenth its true infamy, for on that day in October o' 1307, he ordered a' Knights residin' in France tae be arrested for heresy. Three thoosand innocent Templars were imprisoned an' tortured, their property seized by the king. Under Phillip's pressure, the Pope then ordered the arrest o' a' Templar Knights. Fifteen thoosand mair monks were jailed an' brutally beaten, effectively dissolvin' the Order. The Knights' Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, wis coerced intae a false confession, then burned at the stake. Legend says that Molay recanted his confession as he burned, an' placed a curse on the king an' the Pope, baith o' whom died within seven months."
And what does all this have to do with True's father?"
"I'm gettin' tae that. Fleein' France, the survivin' Templars branched oot intae two successful Orders, the Sovereign Military Order o' the Temple o' Jerusalem an' the Freemasons. Many o' the Fraternal Order came tae Scotland, which had been a stronghold for the Templars back in the day o' Hughes de Paynes, him havin' worked oot a deal wi' King David of Scotland for the lands of Ballatradoch. Robert the Bruce an' the Stewart Clan were all born into the Order, which eventually became kent as the Masonic Templar. Thus, the Scots Royal line wis established, linkin' us tae the bloodline o' King David o' Jerusalem an' his son, Solomon, who commissioned his Temple be built by a Master Mason. Remember, it wis Solomon's Temple that held the Arc of the Covenant an' its wealth o' secrets. Many believe the Knights were the ones left to guard it, and when a Templar guards somethin', it stays guarded.
"Anyway, after Bonnie Prince Charlie fell at Culloden, the Masons continued their attempts tae re-establish oor bloodlines an' adopt the Templar laws intae Scotland's crown. This movement became kent as the Scottish Rite, an' it wis very popular in the Colonies durin' the American Revolution. Fact is, both George Washington an' Benjamin Franklin were Knights, an' they based much o' America's Declaration o' Independence on the teachings o' the Masonic Temple."
I listened intently, this, the first serious conversation I could recall ever having with my father. I was amazed at his depth of knowledge, but suspected he was again setting me up for something.
"… the Puritans, being a narrow-minded an' superstitious lot, were aye accusin' folk o' witchcraft, while the Masons encouraged scientific discoveries; the law of gravity, the invention o' the reflectin' telescope, an' the list goes on."