Echoes Through the Mist: A Paranormal Mystery (The Echoes Quartet Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

lunacy.” Julian’s voice was tight and nervous and he continued to look toward his office door every few moments.
    Bridget Bragonier’s eyes were warm, and inviting. They inspired trust even in those, like Julian, who had given up trusting long ago. “Julian, there is no reason to keep looking at the door. Your friends will not be back until tomorrow evening, although I believe they will be more than a little cross with you. Even so, we have little time for preamble, so let us begin, shall we?”
    Julian looked down at the old journal in his hands. He traced again the Celtic knot cut into the cover and shook his head slowly. Worry and frustration etched his face. He looked drawn, pale and worn out. “How can you help me, Bridget?” Julian asked and looked into his companion’s face.
    He turned to the window and Bridget Bragonier materialized at his elbow. “I said when first we met, there was a life waiting for you and that you would not be able to ignore it much longer. Now, the time has come. You know this of course. Your life here is over.”
    Everything Bridget had said was true. Each of the things that buttressed his life had been knocked away one after another. Now he stood in his darkened office with his career in tatters, his emotional life a shambles, a lot of people who wanted him dead and the pervasive feeling this couldn’t be all there was to life.
    Looking out the window, Julian whispered after a long silence, “Bridget, I am afraid. The trouble is I don’t know if I am more afraid of the past or the future. I know my life here is over, but I don’t know what’s next.”
    “I know you are afraid, you dear man. Your fear is legitimate, but please, do not deceive yourself as to its source. The past and the future are not your enemies. Your past holds no terrors for you except that you may repeat its errors. The future is entirely unknown to you. This may cause you concern but does not rise to the level of fear.
    “You are afraid to trust yourself. That is the root of your trouble and offers the germ of your salvation. You have heard the words. You hold a signpost in your hands. Trust yourself. Trust everything that is right and true and real about you. Trust yourself to say the words, the words you hear. Step off the edge, Julian. The life that awaits you will not so easily let you fall.”
    Julian drew a breath. He was locked in a battle between what he knew and what he wanted. He exhaled, breaking the stalemate. “Go now,” he whispered.
    Bridget smiled warmly, closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. “Julian, you know where you must go even if you do not know why or what you are to do.
    “Before I came here tonight, I wrote down our information. The professor and I look forward to seeing you in Dublin. Go and be well, but my dear, go now.” She handed Julian an off-white sheet of notepaper and with that, the woman with ancient eyes turned and walked away.
    As she reached the door her eyes darkened and the slight smile left her lips. Without turning, she thought and Julian heard her thoughts clearly, “You have a letter. Destroy it for your own good and that of others. It is poisonous and it will keep you from what you want most. Do not fall into the trap the letter sets for you. You must believe what is best about you. That will lead you, in turn, to what is best for you.
    “I tell you this for your own good. That letter is the past and as long as you keep it and believe it, you will be anchored to your past with all its mistakes and heartaches.”
    Bridget opened the door and was gone leaving Julian at the window alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Three
     
    The flights from New York to London and London to Dublin had been uneventful. To Julian that meant the airplanes shot off the runway on one end and underwent a successful controlled crash onto the runway at the other and everyone survived more or less intact.
    It was early morning of his first day in Ireland.
    ***
    In a cold manor house