The Moon Sister

by Lucinda Riley

  ‘We both know it was you, Fraser,’ I commented quietly as I put the cup on the drainer. ‘And come to think of it, I’m suddenly remembering the rifle being aimed at me that night. I’m sure the police would be very interested to hear about it. They did say it could be classed as attempted murder. If the stag hadn’t been between us, it could have been me that was killed.’

  ‘Okay, okay, let’s talk,’ Fraser said. Charlie paused, one hand on the doorknob. ‘What is it you want?’ Fraser asked me.

  ‘Justice of course, for Pegasus and for me,’ I said as I turned round to him slowly and was pleased to see he’d had the grace to take off his hat. ‘But I also want it for Charlie. You’re only after a piece of the estate because it’s his, not because you love it. It would probably have to be sold to give you your share and then the hundreds of years of Kinnaird history would go down the drain. I think that would be a real shame, don’t you?’

  ‘You little bitch . . . !’ Fraser muttered as I watched Charlie approach him.

  ‘Enough, Fraser!’

  ‘It’s okay, Charlie, he can call me what he wants,’ I said evenly. ‘Especially as it’s all on tape anyway. And he’s already admitted it was him.’

  ‘I’ve done no such thing!’

  ‘I think you have,’ I shrugged. ‘Anyway, Fraser, it’s really up to you. Charlie and you share the same blood after all, and whatever you’ve done to him, he wouldn’t like to see his half-brother put away in prison, would you, Charlie?’

  ‘Of course not, no, Tiggy.’ Charlie nodded in agreement.

  ‘So, Fraser, I’m prepared not to tell the police that it was you who shot at Pegasus and me that night, if you’re prepared to give up your claim to the Kinnaird estate and leave the country.’

  ‘This is out and out blackmail!’ Fraser raged, but he stayed where he was.

  ‘Yes, I’m morally corrupt,’ I said, ‘but what can I do? So, what’s it to be? The choice is yours.’

  Both Charlie and I watched as a gamut of emotion, ranging from rage to fear, passed across Fraser’s cold blue eyes. Eventually, he stood up.

  ‘You’ll be sorry you did this for him,’ Fraser shouted, stabbing one of his fingers towards me. ‘He’s pathetic – just ask his wife, or my ex-wife, for that matter. They’ll tell you.’ He walked towards the door.

  ‘I take it you’ve decided to leave the country?’

  ‘I’ll need a few hours to sort my shit out. You’ll grant me that, will you?’

  ‘We will. Oh and Cal will keep hold of that rifle of yours just in case you change your mind. Okay?’

  Fraser looked round the kitchen, his entire body shaking with anger. Then he threw us both a look of such hatred, I shuddered. The man was pure evil and, for the first time, I felt glad I knew the words of the curse.

  Without another word, Fraser turned on his heel and left the room.

  Charlie and I listened as his footsteps retreated towards the back door, and we watched surreptitiously through the kitchen window as he climbed into his jeep, then, with a screech of tyres, exited the courtyard.

  ‘I’ll call Cal and tell him to get the hell away from the barn with the rifle. I’ll send him up to Lochie’s parents’ croft for now, just in case Fraser decides to hunt him down. He’ll never find him up there,’ Charlie called as he headed for the office.

  Ulrika appeared in the kitchen a few seconds later, Zara trailing behind her, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Did I just see Fraser’s car leave?’ Ulrika asked.

  ‘Yes,’ I muttered.

  ‘But he was meant to be waiting for me!’

  I sat down heavily on a chair, as all the adrenaline, or whatever it was that had got me through the past fifteen minutes, drained out of me.

  ‘Are you okay, Tiggy? You’ve gone a funny colour,’ Zara said, walking over to me, as Charlie reappeared and gave me a thumbs-up sign. Ulrika stood there uncertainly.

  ‘So have you and Zara had a chat?’ asked Charlie. ‘We have,’ Ulrika nodded. ‘She agrees it’s all for the best.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ said Zara, then mouthed, ‘What the hell is going on?!’ from behind her mother.

  ‘And you’re absolutely sure a divorce is what you want, Ulrika?’ Charlie’s eyes bored into his wife’s.

  ‘Absolutely. No turning back now.’ Ulrika glanced at me. ‘He’s all yours if you want him. Right, I’m off. Fraser and I are going out to dinner tonight.’

  ‘Have a nice time,’ I called after her as she left the kitchen and headed for her jeep.

  The phone rang, and Charlie went to answer it.

  Zara waited until we heard the back door and the office door close, before she turned on me.

  ‘Perhaps you can tell me now what on earth is happening? I, like, had to pretend it was okay that my mum is literally helping that idiot boyfriend of hers steal my inheritance from under my nose! And agree to spend half the hols in his manky cottage when all I want to do is to punch his lights out!’

  ‘Don’t be too hard on your mum, Zara. You know how love can make you blind, don’t you?’ I said.

  ‘What? How come you’re on her side now?’

  ‘I’m not, Zara, but . . . let’s wait until your dad’s back and we’ll tell you what’s just happened. For now, would you make me a cup of really sugary tea?’

  When Charlie returned, he walked over to me to put his fingers to my wrist.

  ‘That was Cal again. He’s up at the croft, safe and sound. Now, it’s hardly surprising, but your pulse is racing. Bed for you, miss,’ he said, putting an arm around my waist and helping me up from the chair.

  I didn’t resist. I felt totally exhausted.

  ‘Will someone tell me what on earth is going on?!’ Zara complained.

  ‘I will when I’ve put Tiggy to bed, yes. But put it this way, Zara, it looks like this extraordinary woman has just saved your inheritance.’

  38

  I woke the next morning to soft light coming in through the windows, glanced at the alarm clock and saw it was twenty past eight. I’d obviously slept right through the night. I came to slowly, my mind gradually pulling together the threads of what had happened yesterday.

  ‘Was that really you?’ I murmured as I visualised myself standing in the kitchen, cool as a cucumber, telling Fraser I knew it was him who had shot at me. Where I’d found the courage to face him down, I just didn’t know, because I was the least combative person I knew.

  Having woken myself up by splashing my face in cold water, I heard a soft tapping on my door.

  ‘Come in,’ I said as I climbed back into bed.

  Charlie entered the bedroom with a breakfast tray, piled with a pot of tea, toast, and a blood pressure monitor. He was also wearing his stethoscope round his neck.

  ‘How are you feeling, Tiggy? I popped in a couple of times in the night to feel your pulse, but I want to check your blood pressure now and listen to your heart.’

  ‘Really, I’m fine, Charlie. I slept well.’

  ‘Well, I didn’t,’ he said as he put the tray down on the bed. ‘I just want to apologise now for putting you through that ordeal last night; it was totally selfish of me. All that stress was absolutely the last thing you needed.’

  ‘Honestly, I feel okay,’ I said as Charlie hooked his stethoscope into his ears and listened to my heart and my chest, then checked my blood pressure. ‘Now, tell me, did you have your tests in Geneva before you left?’

  ‘No, I flew back here with Zara but . . .’

  ‘No buts, I’ll book you in at Inverness for them tomorrow. Surprisingly though, your obs are all normal,’ Charlie said as he removed the monitor from my arm and poured me some tea.

  ‘Well, I have just spent the best part of three weeks in bed resting. And besides, last night was like an out-of-body experience. I can’t really remember what I said. It was as if someone else was saying the words I needed to say for me.’

  ‘Well, it was you, and you were magnificent. Really, Tiggy, I can never thank you
enough. You’re not regretting it, are you? Thinking you should call the police?’

  ‘No, why should I, if it’s got rid of Fraser? Being unable to take Kinnaird away from you is just as bad a punishment for him as going to prison. He has gone, hasn’t he?’ I said, my heart giving a tiny lurch.

  ‘He has, yes, but I had Ulrika up here at seven this morning. She was hysterical – wanted to know what I’d said that had made Fraser pick up his stuff and take off in the early hours without her.’

  ‘He didn’t take her with him?’

  ‘No. In fact, he told her it was over and he was going back to Canada by himself. She obviously presumed I’d dished some dirt on her which had put him off. I’m amazed you didn’t hear the shouting.’

  ‘I didn’t, no. Is she still here?’ I asked him nervously.

  ‘No, she drove off at top speed, saying she’d see me in court. Kinnaird’s not out of the woods yet,’ Charlie sighed. ‘I’m sure Ulrika will demand her pound of flesh in the divorce proceedings.’

  ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.’

  ‘No, well, I’ll just have to find a way to pay her off – maybe sell a few hundred acres to the neighbouring estate – they’ve been after some Kinnaird land for years, and, thanks to you, Tiggy, at least we’d get to keep the bulk of it. Now, eat your breakfast.’

  ‘Thank you for this.’ I smiled at him, glad to see that, even though he looked like he hadn’t slept, his eyes had lost the sheen of hopelessness and were a vivid blue. ‘What did Zara say when you told her what we’d done?’ I asked as I ate the toast.

  ‘The words she used are not repeatable in polite company . . . but in other words, she was ecstatic,’ he nodded.

  ‘Did she say anything more about you and Ulrika divorcing? I know she was brave last night, but the news must have affected her.’

  ‘If she is sad about it, then she’s doing a very good job of not showing it, Tiggy, really. And maybe seeing us separately will be healthier for her. She’s always been a Daddy’s girl right from when she was a baby and Ulrika probably thinks I’ve promoted it – whispered poison into Zara’s ear – which I absolutely haven’t. I’ve always wanted them to get on well, but they simply never did. Mind you, Zara’s already making noises about moving up here to Kinnaird with me. Lochie’s told her all about the college he went to. Maybe I should think about it,’ Charlie said. ‘I mean, just because all my Kinnaird ancestors and I went to boarding school, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for Zara, does it? Besides, I’m going to need all the help I can get if I’m going to try and save Kinnaird for her.’

  ‘You’re moving up here?’ I said, wondering if I had the wrong end of the stick.

  ‘Yes, Tiggy, I am. After I’d put you to bed last night, I did a lot of thinking and the good news is, with the aid of some whisky, I grant you, everything came into sharp focus.’

  ‘Such as what?’

  ‘For starters, Kinnaird’s in my blood, and that’s the way it is. Maybe it’s only when you’re about to lose something that you realise how much it means to you. So at least I can thank Fraser for that. I’ve decided that I’m going to take a sabbatical from the hospital for a year. That will give me a chance to really focus on the estate and to work out exactly what can be done to restore it. And also to see if it’s right for me to be here full-time. I owe my ancestors – and Zara – that at least, and I can always go back to medicine if it doesn’t work out. Or even maybe do as we once told each other we’d dreamt of and disappear off to Africa.’ Charlie smiled.

  ‘Er, talking of that,’ I confessed, feeling guilty for some reason, ‘I have an interview next week for the job of Conservation Officer on a reserve in Malawi.’

  ‘Malawi in Africa?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh. Right.’ I saw the concern and a touch of panic in his eyes. ‘I see. Well,’ he swallowed, ‘I did tell you that your future at Kinnaird was uncertain, and far be it from me to dissuade you. But I have to say, I’d honestly be very concerned about your health, because I doubt there’s a decent hospital nearby. Besides . . .’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Well, I was obviously hoping you’d stay on here and help me at Kinnaird.’

  A pregnant silence, full of the things we both wanted to say but didn’t know how to, hung between us. I sipped my tea and looked out of the window, feeling horribly uncomfortable. I watched as Charlie stood up and paced, hands deep in his pockets.

  ‘Last night, when you and I were plotting what I shall now call “Frasergate”, I thought that . . . well, that we were a team. And it felt really fantastic, Tiggy.’

  ‘It did, yes,’ I admitted.

  ‘And . . . I know it’s early days, and even if you’ve managed to rescue Kinnaird for me, it’s still got to be turned into something that’s viable and sustainable in the future, which just may not be possible. Plus the fact that I have what I’m sure will be a very messy divorce on the cards, but I was hoping that you’d . . . well, be with me.’

  ‘As an employee?’ I clarified, knowing I was being disingenuous, but needing him to actually say the words.

  ‘Yes, that of course, but no, I mean . . . with me.’

  Charlie walked back to the bed and sat down on it. He snaked his hand towards mine – his long elegant fingers begging to be accepted. I watched my palm open of its own accord and take them and hold them tightly. We smiled shyly at each other, not needing any words because we both knew.

  For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health . . .

  Charlie moved the breakfast tray from my knees, then reached out his arms and drew me to him. I laid my head against his chest as he stroked my hair.

  ‘I want to look after you for the rest of your life,’ he whispered. ‘I want us to build Kinnaird together, become a family – a happy family. I’ve wanted it from the first moment I saw you in the hospital. I’ve dreamt about it for months, but I could never see a way that it could happen. Yet now there is a way.’

  ‘I’ve dreamt about it too.’ I blushed as he tipped my chin up so he could look into my eyes.

  ‘Have you really? That amazes me. I’m quite a bit older than you, with a load of baggage that’s going to take a long time to sort out . . . it’s not going to be easy, Tiggy, and the last thing I’d ever want you to do is to resent me like Ulrika does.’

  ‘I’m not Ulrika,’ I said quickly. ‘I’m me, and I don’t do resentment.’

  ‘No, you do magic . . . you are magic,’ he said as his eyes filled with tears. ‘God, I’m pathetic – look at me! I’m crying. Will you stay?’

  ‘I . . .’

  However much I wanted to say yes, I knew I owed it to myself to take some time to think it all over. Because this dear, dear man had been through enough, and if I agreed, then it had to be forever.

  ‘Give me a few hours, will you?’ I asked him. ‘There’s someone I need to see first.’

  ‘Of course. Can I ask who?’

  ‘No, because if I told you, you’d think I was mad.’

  ‘I think you’re mad already, Tiggy.’ Charlie kissed me on the forehead. ‘And I still love you,’ he added with a grin.

  He loves me . . .

  ‘Okay, then maybe you can tell me where you buried Chilly?’

  ‘Of course.’ Charlie nodded, trying not to let a smile escape his lips. ‘In our family graveyard naturally – he was family, after all. It’s at the back of the chapel.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll see you later – I’m going over to Beryl’s cottage to tell her what has happened and beg her to come back.’

  *

  ‘Hello, darling Chilly,’ I said, as I crouched down and looked at the simple cross, which replicated those in the graveyard at Sacromonte. It only had his forename on it, as nobody here would know Chilly’s surname or date of birth. ‘I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to say goodbye properly, but thank you for stopping in on your way up that night.’

  I patted the snow covering the grave with my gloved hand,
then stood and turned my eyes skywards, because that’s where he really was. ‘You told me that I’d leave Kinnaird the first day I saw you. Well, I’m back now, and Charlie’s asked me to stay. It would mean giving up my dreams of going to Africa but . . . could you ask the others up there what they think?’

  There wasn’t an answer, and neither had I really expected one, because – despite what I could already see would be numerous difficulties in the future – I already knew. And every atom of me was tingling with happiness and certainty.

  ‘Tell Angelina I’ll be back to see her soon with Mister Charlie,’ I called as I walked past the graves of three hundred years of Kinnairds to the Land Rover.

  This is where you’ll lie one day, hotchiwitchi, a voice in my head said as I climbed in. I giggled, because it was such a Chilly thing to say and the fact that I would lie here one day meant that – however long I had on this earth – Charlie and I were forever. Which was all I needed to know.

  *

  ‘So, the hero of the hour returns,’ Cal said as I wandered into the cottage, still feeling emotional from the past few hours and my visit to Chilly. ‘How are you feeling, Tig?’

  ‘I’m a bit dazed, to be honest,’ I admitted as I went to sit down on the sofa.

  ‘Zara popped down and filled me in. It sounds like you played a blinder. And because o’ you, we’re all saved. The news is going round that the Laird is getting divorced tae boot. Is that true?’

  ‘I can neither confirm nor deny,’ I replied blithely.

  ‘Well, it’s about time those two went their separate ways. Now then,’ he said, drawing himself up to his full height and staring down at me, ‘I need tae show you something else that’ll rock your world. Are you up tae it, Tig?’

  ‘It’s nothing bad, is it?’

  ‘No, not at all. It’s a blinkin’ miracle! Coming?’

  ‘Yes, as long as it’s good,’ I said, even though I was now dog-tired from emotional and mental stress.