Plane of the Ecliptic

Maggie MacKenzie is a high school librarian who thinks her life is as orderly as the books on her shelves. She has a devoted husband, wonderful stepdaughter and loyal best friend. But her life is disrupted with the arrival of her granddaughter, Julia, who is growing up to be unusually perceptive. As Maggie's connection to her granddaughter develops, she becomes haunted by dreams of two girls in seventeenth-century Scotland. Her dreams take her through a tragic era of Scottish history, and she grows mysteriously attached to the two girls. She first wonders whether this is a case of synchronicity, genetic memory or reincarnation. Ultimately, how it's happening ceases to matter as she discovers lives can be intertwined beyond the veil of time and space. With the help of a former student turned astronomer, a girlfriend dealing with her own strange relationship, a feisty Italian neighbor and a young, hip clergyman, Maggie gathers the courage to journey where the moon meets the sun and earth-a place where truth is revealed in Plane of the Ecliptic.

From the Inside Flap

Maggie MacKenzie is a high school librarian who thinks her life is as orderly as the books on her shelves. She has a devoted husband, wonderful stepdaughter and loyal best friend. But her life is disrupted with the arrival of her granddaughter, Julia, who is growing up to be unusually perceptive. As Maggie's connection to her granddaughter develops, she becomes haunted by dreams of two girls in seventeenth-century Scotland. Her dreams take her through a tragic era of Scottish history, and she grows mysteriously attached to the two girls. She first wonders whether this is a case of synchronicity, genetic memory or reincarnation. Ultimately, how it's happening ceases to matter as she discovers lives can be intertwined beyond the veil of time and space. With the help of a former student turned astronomer, a girlfriend dealing with her own strange relationship, a feisty Italian neighbor and a young, hip clergyman, Maggie gathers the courage to journey where the moon meets the sun and earth--a place where truth is revealed in Plane of the Ecliptic.

From the Back Cover

Maggie hesitantly stepped up to the edge of the bed. She hadn't held a baby since her friend, Claire, had shown off her new grandson two years before. As if transporting a rare orchid, Maggie gently carried the infant to the padded bench near the window in the back of the room. ... A cloud moved aside just then, making way for the dazzling full moon to illuminate this woman and newborn, like a spotlight on the lead characters in a play. Maggie pulled back the soft blanket for a better glimpse. Her eyes locked with the puffy blue ones peering out of the small bundle as she reached for the tiny braceleted hand. A level of semi-consciousness, resembling that of waking from a pleasant afternoon nap, consumed them both as the crying, along with all of the surrounding tension, was replaced with the faraway sound of a flute. Or possibly chiming bells. Emotions that would take years to explain, or even admit to, arose within the depths of Maggie's being.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Plane of the EclipticBy Karen EstesiUniverse, Inc.Copyright © 2009 Karen EstesAll right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4401-8912-8Chapter One It was just as well she didn't know. A crucial form of protection really-not realizing what the future held. She would have only begun fretting that much earlier, which wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference to anyone involved. The outcome would remain the same, no matter what. Consequently, since forthcoming events were as inconspicuous as the hyacinth bulbs hidden beneath the lingering March snow in her front yard, Maggie set about the evening routine with her usual resolve. The clock glowed a red 9:35 after she had double-checked the alarm setting, and she and Ross had turned off their respective nightstand lights-Maggie's a hollow glass lamp filled with seashells, Ross's a carved wooden golden retriever head. In his exhausted and blissful state of puppyhood, Spencer snored on his fleece bed. Cleo claimed a place atop the comforter near Maggie's feet, kneading with her front paws and purring. Ross kissed Maggie. They uttered simultaneous good nights and rolled over, shoulders, backs, and rear ends aligned against each other just the way they liked it. Everything was exactly the same as the night before and the night before that. Then the phone rang. Maggie answered it. She had barely said hello when Kellie shouted, "Mom? I need your help!" Maggie held the receiver away from her ear and turned on the seashell lamp, yawning. Kellie wasn't due for another three weeks, and Maggie suspected she was experiencing a severe case of heartburn, a condition she managed to develop almost every other night. It reminded Maggie of the year Kellie turned five and contracted a chronic case of hiccups in anticipation of starting kindergarten. "What is it, honey?" Maggie hoped a quick word of reassurance would be all Kellie needed, and she could return to her comfortable bed next to Ross. She couldn't possibly face all those teenagers at school tomorrow without a full eight hours of sleep. "Only that the baby's coming and I'm not ready," Kellie screamed in between dramatic huffs and puffs. For the duration of Kellie's pregnancy, Maggie had helped her through morning sickness, mood swings, sleepless nights, and a belly stretched as tight as plastic wrap over a bowl. She accompanied her to all of her doctor's visits, and consoled her after each weigh-in. She provided Kellie with all the latest pregnancy and child-rearing books, assuring her that no mother on the planet knew exactly the right thing to do every second of her child's life. Now, however, Maggie tried desperately to disguise the anxiety bubbling in her own stomach. "Oh, but, sweetheart, this isn't according to the schedule. Your due date's not until April 2." "Well, apparently we neglected to tell this baby about the schedule." Kellie let out what sounded like a mother bear's growl, followed by heavy breathing mixed with wretched moans of pain. "Where are you?" "Sean is just warming up the car. Meet us at the hospital as fast as you can." Kellie squeaked. "You won't get a ticket, Mom, I promise. Ohh ... I can't believe this!" "I'll be there." Maggie carefully placed the phone back in its charger and Looked around the bedroom, half-expecting someone to jump out, gleefully telling her this was all a practical joke. Brow furrowed in concentration, she stepped into the bathroom and brushed her teeth one more time by the pale glow of the nightlight. Choosing her moss green slacks and matching cashmere sweater with the little collar and three pearl buttons, she took a look in the mirror. The sweater brought out a tiny bit of green in her hazel eyes. She smiled as she reached for a brush to fluff her short dark hair. Everything will be fine, she thought. Everything will be fine. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Ross's voice startled her. She'd forgotten he was barely ten feet away. "Oh, it was only Kellie. She thinks she might be in labor, but it's probably heartburn. I told her I'd meet her at the hospital just in case." Saying all this out loud to her husband made it seem logical and true. Ross propped himself up on his elbow, running his free hand through his dark hair, unconsciously covering up the balding spot. "I'm coming with you." "Fine, but I'm driving." She handed Ross his pants. Deep in slumber, Spencer twitched his paws. Cleo remained in position, undoubtedly anticipating the eventual return of Maggie's feet. Once in the car, Maggie drove as fast as her follow-the-rules-no-matter-what nature would allow. Kellie, as close to Maggie as a stepdaughter could possibly be, knew her well enough to hint it would be okay to go slightly over the speed limit in this situation. And in spite of being caught off guard, Maggie reminded herself she was fully prepared. Weeks ago, she'd memorized the quickest route between home and the hospital, as well as between school and the hospital. Oh yes, and between the Marketfresh grocery store and the hospital. No need to take any chances figuring all that out at the last minute. At least most of the evidence of the late spring snowstorm that had hit Summerhill two weeks earlier was gone. Sloppy piles of dirty snow stood on every corner, but the streets themselves were in fine shape. Certainly there was no reason at all to worry about icy conditions. She held the accelerator steady. They found the emergency room in sheer chaos. How could anyone work in such makeshift conditions? Frazzled people in colorful scrubs ran here and there. Small, tired children whimpered near a tall woman holding a once yellow towel to her bleeding temple. Oddly, two teenaged boys stared at a rerun of Little House on the Prairie, close to tearing up right along with Michael Landon. A desk nurse, the only person who seemed happy to be in there, scanned her stack of paperwork and promptly announced Kellie and Sean were already in their birthing room. Third floor. Still convinced this was merely a false alarm, Maggie guided Ross by the elbow into the next free elevator, straightening her sweater as the doors closed. In the labor and delivery wing, they were ushered into room 310, only to find a frightened young man, blonde curls falling around his face, leaning over Kellie's bed. "Is that our son-in-law?" Ross blurted. But there was no time for anyone to answer. "What took you so long, Mom?" Kellie demanded between pants. "You know I can't have this baby without you and- Oh, my God, it's pushing, it's pushing!" Shocked by the expansive distance between her stepdaughter's knees, Maggie switched mental gears. Apparently her initial heartburn hypothesis no longer applied. She couldn't help but notice Kellie had leaped far beyond the particular childbirth class that taught the expectant mothers how to breathe in and out, when to breathe in and out, and how to continually adapt the in and out breathing to work with the "natural process of birth." Yes, the natural childbirth ship had already sailed. "Now that you're both here," said Sean, "maybe I'll just wait in the hallway." His look of relief rivaled the one Maggie had witnessed on Ross's face when he discovered he would not be the featured speaker at the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants after all. "Oh no, you don't," Kellie shrieked. "Seeing as it's apparently too late for any high-powered drugs, there's no way I'm going through this by myself." Reaching for the front of Sean's shirt, she snarled through gritted teeth, "Don't you dare move." Maggie suddenly noticed a nurse checking Kellie-a nurse who, thankfully, seemed confidently in charge of the entire event. Jeannie, as her name tag proclaimed, cradled Kellie's knee in her arm, calmly instructing her how to breathe and push at every appropriate moment. A second nurse set up a cart of assorted instruments, while a third prepared an isolette. "This is a sterile tray," Jeannie declared, as she adjusted it into place with one gloved hand. "Try not to touch it." Mouth hanging open, Sean stared at the sterile off-limits cart, which not only had been positioned directly in front of him, but also signified the urgency of the situation. He looked frantically between the three nurses and Kellie. "But it's all happening so fast!" he howled and collapsed in the chair beside his wife's bed. Jeannie's mouth turned up slightly at the corner. "Sometimes this is just how it happens. We've apparently got one who is simply determined to join the world." Totally unaccustomed to any level of lack of control, Maggie felt overwhelmed at the hasty sequence of events. Consequently, she loved this nurse already. Reaching for the cool, damp washcloth lying in the plastic tray near the bed, she held it against her own face. "Ross, honey, would you please go down the hall and buy me a bottle of water?" Ross didn't argue. He practically ran out of the room just as Kellie let out an unsettling high-pitched yelp. "Uh-oh," Jeannie muttered. "We're going to have a baby with the next push. I don't think your doctor will have time to get here." One of the other nurses reached for her pager. "I'll call down to ER." Jeannie took her place at the end of the bed. "All right, Kellie, deep breath. Now push, push, push!" Maggie's face flushed scarlet right along with Kellie's, as mother and daughter held their breath and pushed together. While Sean cautiously peered through his fingers, Jeannie announced, "We have a beautiful girl." The nurse wiped down the gooey red baby before placing her gently on Kellie's tummy. "May I present your brand-new daughter." The infant, so insistent on coming early, wailed as if yearning for the cozy, safe harbor of her mother's womb. One of the other nurses, heated blanket in hand, skillfully rubbed and cleaned the baby, all the while moving her closer to her mother's face. "Isn't she gorgeous?" she asked. "You were amazing, honey," Maggie said, brushing Kellie's damp hair away from her forehead. "Yeah, you did great," mumbled Sean. "I wish it hadn't all happened so fast, though. There wasn't even time to sit in the Jacuzzi over there." Ross stood in the doorway with a bottle of water. "A girl. Imagine that." Kellie and Sean had been determined to let the baby's gender be a surprise. Anticipating a boy nevertheless, Ross had spent two hours at Toys R Us looking at fire trucks and toddler-sized fishing poles last week. But now, of course, it didn't matter. "I'm thrilled, Kellie, I really am." Sheepishly, over the baby's deafening cry, Sean said, "I'm glad I stayed. It was pretty amazing." "Yes, it was." Maggie knew she drove Sean nuts most of the time. All her rules, regulations, and particular ways of doing things were usually more than he could handle. Sean was not necessarily the son-in-law she would have chosen, but tonight she willingly let that go. Another hour zipped by before anyone realized it. Nurse Jeannie briefly moved the baby to a warming area, where she fastened a pink identification bracelet on her wrist. Ross and Sean seized the opportunity to count fingers and toes. But Maggie, for some unknown reason, kept her distance. Through all of this, even through Kellie's attempt to nurse her, the baby cried until her little body turned purple. "Don't worry, honey," Jeannie assured Kellie. "It's nothing you're doing. She's absolutely normal and will calm down any minute. Birth can be more traumatic for some babies than others, that's all." "Mom, do you want to hold her? I don't know what else she needs." Frustrated, Kellie leaned back against her pillow, the howling baby still in the crook of her arm. Maggie hesitantly stepped up to the edge of the bed. She hadn't held a baby since her friend Claire had shown off her new grandson two years before. As if transporting a rare orchid, Maggie gently carried the infant to the padded bench near the window in the back of the room. "I'll sit with Kellie while she rests," she vaguely heard Ross say. A cloud moved aside just then, making way for the dazzling full moon to illuminate this woman and newborn, like a spotlight on the lead characters in a play. Maggie pulled back the soft blanket for a better glimpse. Her eyes locked with the puffy blue ones peering out of the small bundle as she reached for the tiny braceleted hand. A level of semi-consciousness, resembling that of waking from a pleasant afternoon nap, consumed them both as the crying, along with all of the surrounding tension, was replaced with the faraway sound of a flute. Or possibly chiming bells. Emotions that would take years to explain, or even admit to, arose within the depths of Maggie's being. The unfamiliar sensation was either bafflingly wrong or clearly right. She thought of calling out across the room, and tried to open her mouth. But speaking proved unnecessary, as the connection between her and this fresh soul intensified, held fast, and inevitably recognized something long forgotten. It was just moments before midnight, the first day of spring. Chapter TwoA heavy wooden door creaks open. Near the corner of the room stands a small dark-haired girl. Her father motions for a bearded man and a red-headed girl to hurry in. Freezing wind and snow blow into the house. Together the men push the door closed again. "We've been expecting ye," says the dark-haired girl's father. "Come in out o' the blizzard." He steps forward to shake the bearded man's hand. "And who might this young lass be?" "Hopin' it wouldna be any trouble to bring along me daughter. Her mam has all she can handle with the twins and the newest wee one. This lassie begged to come with me." The girls walk toward each other, smiling. Red-head takes off a woven straw bracelet and holds it out. "I made it," she says. "Oh, 'tis bonnie!" The dark-haired girl slips it over her wrist. "There be plenty o' mutton stew for all." A woman smiles shyly at the guests as she stirs a kettle. Her cheeks are rosy from the steam. She fans her face with her apron and smoothes away wisps of auburn hair. "And flakey baps too." Two young boys run out from a back room. Wooden chairs scrape against the stone floor. All sit down and bow their heads. "Heavenly Father, thank ye for the food before us. Look over us in the days to come as we work to unite our great country. Thank ye for our new friends who have ridden far to be with us. Amen." The father looks up, dips out a bowl of stew, and hands it to the bearded man. The girls scoot closer together. Grinning, they reach for each other's hands. Maggie sat up in bed, her heart pounding like the beat of a familiar tune stuck in her head. Only she couldn't recall the name of this particular song, the lyrics beyond her grasp. What kind of dream was this? She glanced over at Ross. He lay on his right side, covers pushed down to his waist, one arm flung across his face. They'd only been grandparents for a few hours, but he was already exhausted. Although the clock said 4:11, much earlier than Maggie usually started her day, she put on her fleece robe and crept downstairs to make the coffee. Once in the kitchen, she navigated by the shimmering glow of the moon shining through the window over the sink. Breathing deeply and deliberately, she attempted to calm the uneasy shiver running down her back. Chapter Three In spite of the curious experience at the hospital on Thursday evening and the unsettling dream later that night, Maggie took special care to begin each of the subsequent days as she always did-one cup of coffee while reading the newspaper, twenty minutes of stretching, yoga, and deep breathing, and then shower, hair, and makeup. The latter two routines consisted of a dollop of mousse evenly distributed through her short dark hair, one or two minutes with the dryer, non-comedogenic moisturizer, light foundation, and a single coat of mascara. For breakfast she ate her usual low-fat yogurt with a sliced banana and one cup of Raisin Bran. Floss, brush, a touch of Revlon Twinkled Pink lipstick, and ready to go. Although notably anxious inside, Maggie saw no point in changing any part of her ritual at this point. (Continues...) Excerpted from Plane of the Eclipticby Karen Estes Copyright © 2009 by Karen Estes. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

About the Author

Karen Estes is a middle school librarian. She lives with her husband, golden retriever and calico cat in northern Idaho. Plane of the Ecliptic is her first novel.

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