The Moon Sister

by Lucinda Riley

  ‘Aye, he’s real enough,’ said Cal, flapping the best one of Pegasus at me.

  ‘He is indeed,’ I said, my fingers gently tracing the image of his elegant body as he stood in the snow. ‘Remember your promise, Mr MacKenzie,’ I teased him.

  I added the completed grant applications to the envelope to send off to Charlie and scribbled him a quick note. ‘Hope you’re okay,’ I muttered as I handed over the envelope to the postmaster.

  Later at Kinnaird, I was just debating whether to run the Zed gauntlet so I could access my emails in the office – I hadn’t yet had a reply to the email I’d sent Ally – when I saw Beryl come out of the house and walk towards me.

  ‘I’ve just had a call from the Laird. He’s just heard that Zara has gone missing from school again. She’s done it before and usually turns up here. The Laird is giving her twenty-four hours to arrive at Kinnaird before he calls the police. If I’m out and Zara comes to you, please let me know.’

  ‘Of course I will. You don’t seem very worried.’

  ‘If she’s not here by this time tomorrow, then I will be,’ she sniffed. ‘Oh, and Zed told me to tell you he’d like to see you. He thinks you may have been avoiding him.’

  ‘Oh no, I, well, I’ve just been busy, that’s all.’

  ‘Right, well, just passing on the message,’ Beryl said. ‘And let’s hope Zara shows up here soon.’

  *

  That evening, Cal went off to see Caitlin after his aborted visit of a few weeks ago, and with Lochie and his dad watching over Pegasus at the hide, I went to bed early. I must have dozed off immediately, for I came to at the sound of somebody tapping on my window. My immediate thought was that Zed had resorted to desperate measures to see me, but as I crept out of bed into the biting cold and twitched back the curtain to peer out surreptitiously, it was Zara’s face that appeared within the frosty frame.

  ‘Oh my God, Zara, you must be half frozen! Come in,’ I said through the window, then gesticulated towards the front door. ‘How on earth did you get here?’ I asked her as I opened it.

  ‘I hitched a lift from Tain station up to the entrance, then just walked up the rest of the way. I’m okay, really,’ she said as I drew her shivering frame to the chair by the fire.

  ‘You should have called me,’ I said as I stoked the fire and reached for Zara’s hands to warm them with my own.

  ‘There’s no signal, Tiggy, and besides, I don’t want anyone else to know that I’m here.’ She looked around nervously. ‘Where’s Cal? In bed?’

  ‘No, he’s in Dornoch with Caitlin. Zara, your dad has already called Beryl, so I think I should at least let them both know you’re safe.’

  ‘No! Please, Tiggy, I just needed some time alone to think. Twenty-four hours is all I’m asking for.’

  ‘I . . .’

  ‘If you won’t promise, I’ll find somewhere else to hide out.’ Zara stood up immediately.

  ‘Okay, okay, I won’t say anything for now,’ I capitulated. ‘Are you sure you’re feeling okay?’

  ‘Not really, no.’

  ‘Anything I can help with?’ I said as I walked to the kitchen to warm up some milk for cocoa.

  Zara followed me and leant against the doorframe. ‘Maybe . . . Like, you’re the only grown-up I trust, but please, Tiggy, don’t say anything. I just need a bit of time to work some stuff out, okay?’

  ‘I’m flattered, Zara, but you hardly know me.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she said as she took her cocoa and we went back to sit by the fire.

  ‘So,’ I said as Zara cradled her mug, ‘I’d guess it’s something to do with a boy?’

  ‘Yes, it is. How did you know?’

  ‘Instinct,’ I replied with a shrug. ‘Is it that Johnnie you mentioned to me at Christmas?’

  ‘Yes!’ Tears sprang immediately to Zara’s eyes. ‘I really thought he liked me, y’know? Even though all the other girls had warned me, he told me I was special and I believed him . . .’

  Zara’s body seemed to crumple as her shoulders heaved with sobs. I removed the mug from her hands, knelt in front of her and held them with mine.

  ‘I just feel so stupid . . .’ she continued. ‘I’m just as pathetic as all those other girls I used to laugh at when they got used by a boy. Now it’s me, and . . .’

  ‘What happened, Zara? Can you tell me?’

  ‘You’ll just say I’m stupid. I mean, I knew his reputation, but I didn’t listen, because I thought I was different . . . that we were different. I . . . loved him, Tiggy, and I thought he loved me too. And that would make it okay.’

  ‘Make what okay, Zara?’ I had a pretty good idea what ‘it’ was, but I had to hear it from her.

  ‘I . . . well, he went on and on about it, said we couldn’t be a real couple until we did. So, we . . . did. And then . . . and then . . .’ Tears welled up once more in her eyes.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘And then the next morning he sent me a text, dumping me! Like, the idiot couldn’t even say it to my face! He’s just what the other girls said he was – only after one thing. Then I heard he’d told all his friends, so when I walked in for tea, everyone was giggling and pointing at me and it was so . . . humiliating, Tiggy. So the next morning – like, earlier today – I had town leave, so I got on a train and came here. And I can’t ever go back! Ever,’ she stressed, just in case I wasn’t convinced.

  ‘Oh Zara, how awful for you,’ I empathised, seeing that she was still cringing with embarrassment. ‘No wonder you ran away. I’m sure I would have done too.’

  ‘Really?’ Zara looked up at me.

  ‘Really,’ I repeated. ‘Listen, you are so not the one to blame in all this. It was him that did the bad thing, not you.’

  ‘Tiggy, you’re so nice, but I did do a bad thing. I lost my virginity to him in the grounds of a Catholic school! The sins of the flesh are beaten into us day and night. If the monks knew, I’d be on a gazillion Hail Marys for the rest of my life! Plus I’d get expelled.’

  ‘It’s him who should be expelled,’ I muttered darkly. ‘Why is it always us women who get the blame in situations like this? You’re feeling like a total slapper while your Johnnie is parading around like a . . . stallion at a stud farm!’

  Zara looked at me and my vehemence in surprise. ‘Too right, Tiggy! You go, girl! And by the way, he’s not “my” Johnnie. Even if he crawled on his hands and knees all the way to Kinnaird, I’d tell him where to stick his precious . . . stud!’

  We both giggled then and I was glad to see Zara a little brighter.

  ‘Zara, have you spoken to your mum about any of this?’ I ventured. ‘I’m sure she’d understand, she was your age once too—’

  ‘Oh my God! Never! I can’t talk to Mum about anything, let alone sex! All she’d do would go on at me for how I’ve messed up!’

  ‘Okay, I understand, but I am going to have to let your dad know where you are. Beryl said he was going to call the police if you hadn’t turned up here by morning. And you really don’t want the hassle that will bring on top of everything else.’

  ‘Then just give me until the morning, please, Tiggy,’ she begged me.

  ‘Okay,’ I agreed after a long pause. ‘You can sleep here on the sofa.’

  *

  The next morning, I woke to find Zara gone, a scribbled note on top of the blanket on the sofa.

  Sorry, Tiggy, just need a bit more time by myself.

  Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.

  Z xx

  ‘Shit!’ I dressed hastily and ran across to Kinnaird Lodge.

  ‘There you are, Beryl,’ I said as I found her in the kitchen, my breaths coming in short gasps, my heart hammering.

  ‘What is it, Tiggy, dear?’

  I gave Beryl a brief run-down of the situation.

  ‘You’re not to blame yourself, Tiggy. You did what you thought was best,’ Beryl said supportively, which surprised me.

  ‘Thanks, but I need to contact Charlie, Beryl. Can I use the landlin
e?’

  ‘Of course, dear.’

  I rang Charlie’s mobile, which went straight to voicemail, so then I tried the home number. Having not expected him to pick up there either – logic told me he was probably at the hospital – it took me a couple of seconds to register the foreign-sounding female voice that answered on the second ring. Ulrika, of course. My heart sank like a stone.

  She sounded about as happy to hear my voice as I was to hear hers, but given the circumstances, I had no choice but to tell her Zara had turned up at Kinnaird. I had to hold the phone at arm’s length for several seconds while she sobbed dramatically – presumably with relief – into the receiver, but eventually she calmed herself.

  ‘I have not slept a wink all night! I’m in no state to drive, but I’ll be up there as soon as I can,’ she told me before slamming the phone down. I sighed heavily, realising that I hadn’t told Ulrika that Zara was currently missing again and only hoping she would reappear before her mother did.

  Already dreading the Valkyrie’s imminent arrival, I trudged back to the kitchen and relayed the finer points of the conversation to Beryl.

  ‘I hope she thanked you. You’ve done what you can and now it’s up to the Kinnairds to sort out their family affairs.’

  As I sipped the strong tea that Beryl placed in front of me, I wondered how a job that I had worried would be too quiet seemed to be turning into a constant drama of Chekhovian proportions.

  ‘While I’m here, is the office free by any chance?’ I asked her.

  ‘Yes, his Lordship’s taking a call on the landline extension in the Great Room and can’t be disturbed.’

  ‘Great, thanks.’

  I went into the office and logged into my email account. I’d finally received a response from the European elk man who said he could come up to Kinnaird to look at the terrain, and suggested a date in about a month’s time. My heart leapt as I saw I also had an email from Ally.

  Dearest Tiggy,

  How lovely it was to hear from you, and I’m glad you’re settling into your new job. As I look out of my window, the snow is covering everything and the fjord is part frozen – I’m sure it’s the same where you are. I’m getting fatter and fatter, and I’m glad I’ve only got another few weeks to go until the baby makes its entrance into the world. My father Felix visits me every day – (I have hot chocolate and he has aquavit!) – and yesterday, he brought me down a cradle that his father Pip had once slept in. Seeing it really made me realise that the baby is on its way.

  Now, Tiggy, on to other matters: you asked me about Zed Eszu and Maia. Well, yes, he did go out with Maia when they were at university and . . . Oh Tiggy, I don’t want to betray any confidences, but it all ended very badly. On top of that, my darling Theo met him a couple of times through his sailing, and to be honest, thought he was an arrogant idiot. (Sorry.) I’m pretty sure he knows Electra too . . . he seems to have a thing about the D’Aplièse sisters . . .

  I also have to tell you that when I spotted Pa’s boat near Delos last summer, I also recognised Kreeg Eszu’s yacht moored in the bay next to it. I haven’t told you before because I still don’t understand if it was a coincidence or something more . . . but Tiggy – between father and son – that is an awful lot of coincidences, isn’t it?

  You didn’t say whether you were actually involved with Zed on a romantic level, but take care, please. I’m not sure he’s a very nice person. Maybe you should speak to Maia who really knows him well – far better than I ever could.

  What a strange year it seems to be for all of us as we get used to living without Pa. Let’s confirm the date for that trip to lay a wreath with the rest of the sisters where I last saw Pa’s boat moored. I think it would be therapeutic for all of us to be together again and really put Pa to rest.

  Hugs and kisses from snowy Norway!

  Ally xx

  I printed off the email so I could mull over it at my leisure, even though it had only confirmed what I already knew, then stood up from the computer and made a hasty exit before Zed came in search of his breakfast.

  Two hours later, I heard a car screech into the courtyard. Ten minutes after that, I was just preparing to take Chilly’s lunch down when there was a loud banging on the front door.

  I didn’t even reach it before Ulrika burst in.

  ‘For God’s sake, Tiggy! Beryl told me that Zara turned up here last night! Why didn’t you call us immediately?’

  ‘Ulrika, I’m so sorry, I—’

  ‘And now apparently she’s missing again.’ Ulrika cut me short, and I could see that she was shaking with anger. ‘I’ve already left urgent messages for Charlie, but he hasn’t called me back yet. Absolutely bloody typical – his daughter goes missing and he is not returning his calls.’

  At that moment, Cal appeared through the front door. ‘The Land Rover’s vanished. Are the keys in the pot?’

  ‘I don’t know, I didn’t think to check,’ I told him.

  ‘You think Zara might have taken it?’ Ulrika asked.

  ‘Aye.’ Cal went over to the pot on the sideboard. ‘The keys have gone,’ he confirmed.

  ‘This gets worse!’ Ulrika shouted. ‘Zara’s never even had a proper driving lesson, just driven around the estate! What if she crashes? Or gets stopped by the police. She’ll be in all sorts of trouble . . .’

  There was another knock on the cottage door, which made us all jump. Cal went to open it.

  ‘So this is where you all are,’ said the tall man, Fraser, whom I’d last seen on Christmas Eve outside the Lodge. He ducked his head to step inside.

  ‘For once you might be glad to see me,’ he said to Cal, as he gave a tug on the female hand he was holding and Zara stumbled over the threshold. ‘I found her on the side of the road, trying to change a tyre on that ancient vehicle she was driving. She hadn’t a clue how, of course. I would have done it for her, but I thought it was more important to bring her back first to defrost. She could have died out there if I hadn’t found her,’ he added.

  ‘Zara, thank heavens you’re okay!’ The Valkyrie walked towards the pair. ‘Thank you so much.’ I saw Fraser and Ulrika make eye contact and a glimmer of a smile passed between them before Ulrika’s attention moved to her daughter. ‘Where have you been, darling? We’ve been worried sick.’ She embraced Zara, whose ramrod posture did not soften in her mother’s arms. She glanced at me over her mother’s shoulder, her expression beseeching me to help. The problem was, I didn’t know how.

  ‘We need to get her into a warm bath quickly,’ said Ulrika, rubbing her daughter’s arms ineffectually. ‘We’re not going to find that here, are we? It’s an absolute hovel, and of course, we can’t even go to the Lodge.’

  ‘You can both come down to my cottage,’ suggested Fraser. ‘I have central heating and plenty of hot water.’

  ‘Then thank you, we will.’

  ‘Mum, I—’

  ‘Not a word from you, miss!’ Ulrika snapped and Zara shut her mouth.

  ‘Right,’ said Fraser, ‘let’s be off then.’

  When they’d left – without Zara uttering another word – Cal shut the door behind them and turned to me.

  ‘Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m treating myself to a dram from my Christmas whisky stash after all that excitement. Want one?’

  ‘Actually, yes please. I’m definitely feeling shaky. Poor Zara,’ I groaned as my heart gave a weird palpitation and I collapsed onto the sofa.

  ‘There you go, Tig.’ Cal handed me a glass and we toasted each other before knocking back the whisky. The liquid made my heart bump and bounce, but finally steadied it, and I began to feel calmer.

  ‘Here’s to mother and daughter, safely reunited,’ Cal said.

  ‘Who exactly is Fraser, Cal? I’ve been meaning to ask you since I saw him at Christmas.’

  ‘He’s Beryl’s son.’

  ‘Beryl’s son?’ I squeaked. ‘Why on earth has she never mentioned that to me?’

  ‘It’s . . . complicated
, Tig; there’s a lot o’ bad blood from the past, if you know what I mean, and it’s not for me tae tell the story. Suffice to say, she’s not pleased tae see him back from Canada, and nor is anyone else at Kinnaird. Lord knows why he’s here, but I’ve an idea.’ Cal tapped his nose.

  ‘So Fraser doesn’t live with his mother?’

  ‘Och no, not after what he did. Anyway, yae know I’m not one for gossip, so let’s just leave it be, shall we? Fraser is back for reasons best known to himself and I for one will hold my breath until he’s gone again. Now, I’m off out tae fill in some more potholes. I’ll see you later.’

  *

  Just as I’d settled down on the sofa for a nap after lunch, still feeling worn out from my cold and the early mornings with Pegasus, there was yet another knock on the door.

  ‘Hi, Charlie, come in,’ I said, my heart rate rising again at the unexpected sight of him.

  ‘Hi, Tiggy. Beryl told me Ulrika came to see you earlier to find out where Zara was.’

  As he stepped inside and stood there, I noticed the purple shadows under his eyes and the deep contours of his features. He looked as though he’d lost weight since the last time I’d seen him.

  ‘Zara’s fine, Charlie. She and Ulrika left to go and get Zara a hot bath.’ I then explained about his daughter taking Beryl and having a puncture.

  ‘So, who found her?’

  ‘That man Fraser. He brought her back here to Kinnaird.’

  ‘Right.’ Charlie’s expression darkened. ‘Where are they now? Up at the Lodge?’

  ‘No, they went to Fraser’s cottage.’

  ‘I see,’ he said after a long pause. ‘Then I suppose I’d better go and see them there.’

  ‘I suppose so.’ I wanted to add a ‘sorry’ because I could see the pain he was in, but I didn’t feel it was appropriate in the circumstances.

  ‘Thanks for looking after Zara last night,’ he said as he retreated back through the door.

  ‘That’s okay, I think she just needed to blow off some steam.’