“I’d appreciate that, lad,” Niall said seriously. “But first — the message.”
“Of course! I’ll be there in a flash.” The lad all but snapped a salute, repeating the message to ensure that he had the details right, then turned on his heel and sprinted away.
Niall watched him go, a furrow in his brow.
“Laird Donal will send the whole Castle out looking,” Helen said softly. “We’ll find him.”
“Aye, but they’ll have to go slow. Donal’s no fool — he knows that the Kelpies are out in massive numbers. They’ll have to stay close together… and there are miles and miles of lakeshore to cover. That’s assuming the Kelpies haven’t already struck…” He shut his eyes for a moment.
Helen smacked him hard on the shoulder. “What good does it do to think like that?” she said in a low voice. “Kelpies or no Kelpies — there’s still a very good chance we can recover Eamon unhurt. But if we give up, that chance drops to zero. We have to do everything we can. And that means not giving up.”
Niall shook himself, nodding. “You’re right.”
“What are we going to do about the Kelpies? You’ve an iron sword and I have my dagger, but if the herd surrounds us —”
“I have an idea about that, actually,” Niall said thoughtfully, his eyes widening a little. “I’ve been thinking on it since we spoke to Maggie — I’ve been reflecting on what she said about taming the herd’s lead stallion... but it’s a long shot…”
“Whatever it is, let’s do it,” Helen said, impatience rising in her chest. “Now, preferably.”
“It’ll take some time. I’ll need the blacksmith.”
She tilted her head, confused. Was he going to get a new sword made to fight the Kelpies with? A bigger weapon for her, perhaps? She didn’t know how to use one… but the look of determination on his face made her trust him. And any idea was better than nothing. So they headed for the town blacksmith. He was an older man with a huge apron and some heavy hide gloves on, and he ambled out to meet them with a serious look on his face — it seemed that news of the missing child had spread like wildfire through the village.
“Harbormaster,” the blacksmith said, inclining his head. “How goes the search?”
“Well enough,” he said firmly. “Wanted to ask a favor.”
“Anything.”
“I need something made from iron. Do you have what you need?”
“Aye, there’s been considerable demand for iron weapons of late, what with these awful beasties stalking the woods. I saw that horse creature myself. Always had heard old wives’ tales about Kelpies — never thought I’d lay eyes on a real one.” The blacksmith tilted his head. “You in need of some iron blades? Something for the lady, perhaps?” he added, tipping Helen a wink that was so friendly she found herself smiling despite her worry about Eamon.
“I’m armed,” she said with a shrug, withdrawing the iron blade from her pocket.
“Ah, small but mighty,” the blacksmith said with a grin. “Then if it’s not a blade — “
“I need a bit and bridle,” Niall said. “All iron — not just the mouthpiece. And I’ll need it by sundown.”
The blacksmith’s eyes widened, and his breath hissed between his teeth. As he was thinking, as though on autopilot, he ambled over to his forge and added more fuel to the roaring fire beneath it, clicking his tongue. “Aye, I can make that happen, if I’m quick about it,” he said after a pause, and Niall breathed a sigh of relief. “But it’ll be a few hours. Do you have a few hours? Does the lad?”
“I hope so,” was all Niall said, spreading his hands.
The blacksmith nodded tensely and set about his work with a speed and efficiency that was belied by his friendly demeanour. Niall breathed a sigh of something like relief, then took Helen’s hand and headed back toward the horses. She followed, comforted by the touch. They still had an important conversation ahead of them, but it felt good to be able to touch one another, to take some comfort in physical contact during all of this unpleasantness.
“I need to talk to you about something, Helen,” Niall said softly as they reached the horses. She frowned, not especially thrilled about the prospect of having their important conversation in the midst of all this chaos. “Not that,” he added, clearly reading her thoughts from the expression on her face. “That needs to wait until Eamon’s safe. No — it’s about Perry.”
“What about him?”
“I know you were… well, rightfully so, too, you were always willing to think the best of him. I know you went down to talk to him in the dungeons. I know you had sympathy for him, for the way the loss made him feel…”
“A little, I suppose,” she said guardedly, looking into Niall’s face. “It’s not that I like the man, or anything that he’s done, Niall. It’s only that — my training is to empathize with even the worst people. You have to — otherwise you can’t predict their actions. You need to know why people do what they do if you want to stop them.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s wise,” he said simply. “Assuming that a man’s just a beast or a monster makes his actions very difficult to predict. We wouldn’t have figured out that Perry’s on the lakeshore with Eamon without that frame of mind.”
“Exactly,” she said. Then she hesitated. “Why do you want to talk about my — my sympathy for Perry?”
“Because it’s very likely that I’m going to kill him when I find him,” Niall said simply, a cold look on his face. “And I want you to be prepared for that.”
She took a deep breath, reflecting on this. She had complicated opinions on the death penalty, on corporal punishment generally. It was such a final end to a human life, and there were so many examples of tragic mistakes, of innocent men being put to death… or of guilty ones escaping that fate for worse crimes, just because of the prejudices of judges and juries. But Perry… he’d been given chance after chance to change his ways, and he’d rejected each one. And what he was doing now… using a child as bait for a monster… well, it was worse than monstrous. That was true whatever your feelings about the child in question — even from a completely objective standpoint, what Perry had done was beyond forgiveness. What were they going to do? Chain him up in the dungeons forever?
Niall was looking at her, clearly anxious as she worked through her feelings on the matter. “I don’t want you to be unable to look me in the eye,” he said softly, reaching down to catch her hands. “If taking a life is something you can’t forgive…”
It was thinking of Eamon’s frightened little face that finally made her mind up. “I can,” she said simply, looking Niall straight in the eye. “At this point… he deserves what he gets.”
Chapter 56
They spent the rest of the afternoon helping the guards from the Keep search the beaches close to the Loch. Helen could tell that Niall was distracted — he was certain that Perry and Eamon weren’t anywhere close to the Keep, and searching these beaches, while the best way to go about a methodical search, was frustrating. Still, it was heartwarming to see all the people of the Castle rallying together in search of the boy. It wasn’t just the guards who’d come down to help — she saw many of the servants, too, out of their usual uniforms as they combed the beaches for any sign of Eamon and Perry. There were even a few groups of scholars and herbalists, looking rather out of place outdoors. Even Blair was there, her sharp blue eyes sweeping the sands.
“I’m worried about the Kelpies,” Niall confided in her, his green eyes troubled as they moved to the horizon. “I’m worried someone’s going to wander off and get cornered.”
“They’re not hunting on the land by day,” Helen said thoughtfully, “just in the water. And people aren’t getting too close…”
“Still, I’m going to advise everyone to carry iron,” Niall said with a frown, turning to head down to where Brendan was standing in conversation with a couple of his guards. Helen watched as the guard captain grinned up at Niall, clapping him on the shoulder, and Niall returned to Helen, shakin
g his head with a reassuring grin on his face.
“Never mind,” he said, shrugging. “Brendan was miles ahead of me, as always. Every single member of the search party is carrying iron — whether it’s a blade or a piece of jewelry.”
“That’d explain why Maggie’s keeping her distance,” Helen said with a smile. The search party had moved past Maggie’s cottage — the windows were shuttered and there was no sign of Maggie or her apprentice Darter anywhere to be seen. The little house may well have been abandoned for all the activity she’d noticed. It felt a little sad, not having Maggie with them. Was there some kind of Faerie magic she could have done to help find Eamon?
“Maggie’s not our biggest fan at the moment,” Niall said, shaking his head with a frown on his face. “Donal’s not willing to ask her for help, despite the seriousness of the situation. She’s an ally, but she’s still Fae — and I’ve never seen her as angry as she was the other day after the Monster was wounded.”
“She’s still okay with you,” Helen argued. “You’re the one who got the net off the Monster before it could be hurt any more. I bet if you asked her —”
“No,” Niall said firmly. “If Maggie wants to help, she will. I’ll not ask favors from an angry Fae. And you’d be wise to do the same.”
“Fine.” Helen sighed, tossing a longing glance over her shoulder at Maggie’s hut. But he was right, she reflected as she followed the search party along the banks of the Loch, hearing Eamon’s name being called over and over. Maggie had done enough to help them — and with the Monster hurt and tempers still high, it was best that they deal with this problem themselves. After all, she though with a pang of anger, Perry was responsible for both disasters — the loss of the Monster’s protection, and Eamon’s kidnapping. Maybe if they were able to capture him once and for all, Maggie would be able to see her way clear to forgiving them.
But that meant it was all the more important to catch Perry. And as the day wore on and the search continued to not turn anything up, she was beginning to worry that night would fall before they found him… and that would mean the Kelpies were likely to find him before they did. It would serve him right, Helen thought darkly, if they ate him alive. But they had to find him before that, because if they ate him alive… well, they’d do the same to Eamon. And that was a thought she couldn’t bring herself to entertain.
No. They were going to find Eamon and Perry, safe and sound. Then they’d deal with that monster of a man.
The sun was heading for the horizon when Niall took her by the hand, gently. She was beginning to grow weary — she hadn’t had much sleep, and the day’s exhaustions were really taking it out of her. They hadn’t had much to eat — Blair and a handful of servants had brought provisions out for the searchers, always thinking, that woman, but it had been difficult to summon the appetite to eat more than a few bites, with how worried she still was about Eamon. Was he eating lunch? Had Perry bothered to feed him? But she followed Niall, aware that she couldn’t stop, couldn’t let herself collapse in a heap — not until they’d recovered the little boy.
They rode into the village together, and she realized belatedly what they were doing — she’d almost forgotten about the special project Niall had given the blacksmith. Sure enough, as they rode up to the blacksmith, he came trotting out with an iron bridle in his hands, holding it triumphantly aloft.
“Good timing, Harbormaster! Fresh from the forge and ready for action. Will you be putting it on your horse?”
“Not this one, no,” Niall said, taking the iron bridle from the blacksmith and giving it a quick look. “This is fine work.”
“Did my best. It’ll certainly hold any horse I can think of. Do you plan to use it on those Kelpies?”
“Aye, I hope so,” Niall said, a glint in his eye.
The blacksmith grinned. “I imagine it’ll melt those pointed teeth right out of their heads.” He tilted his head curiously. “But aren’t there are whole herd of the beasties? Will you need more bridles? I’ve got the supplies, I can get to work straight away.”
But Niall shook his head. “One ought to be enough, if what I’ve got planned goes ahead as I want it to. But thanks again.”
“Let me know how you go,” the blacksmith shrugged. “Happy to be of service.”
As they rode back toward the Loch, Helen glanced sideways at Niall, curious about what he was planning. The bridle was for a Kelpie, sure — but only one, for the whole herd? Picking up her glance, he gave her a smile, tight and worried. “You’re interested in my theory.”
“I am.”
“The Kelpies have a lead stallion, right? If he’s killed, they’ll scatter. That’s all very well and good, but what if they stay in the area? This is an iron bridle. If I can get it over his head… well, it might kill him,” he said thoughtfully. “But I’ve read tales of men who’ve managed to tame Kelpie stallions. The whole herd falls in line if you can get control of the leader. So —”
“So you’re thinking with their weakness to iron, wearing a bridle like this will make them subservient,” Helen filled in the blanks, impressed with the plan. “That’s brilliant, Niall.”
“Hope it works,” he said, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Honestly, I’m mostly focused on getting my hands on Perry MacCullen.”
“Yes, but if we can deal with the Kelpies at the same time…” Her heart was pounding with excitement at the prospect. “Niall, this might be… this might be the way we finally beat them.”
“I’m not getting my hopes up,” he said softly. They rode past the search party — it seemed the group were getting ready to turn back for the night. As worried as everyone was about Eamon, Donal wasn’t willing to risk the safety of the castle folk by keeping them out after dark. Still, she could see that the guards were staying behind, lighting torches, clearly intending to keep searching through the night.
They kept riding along the shore, past the village, riding ahead of the party of guards who were searching for any sign of Eamon. Niall had picked up a torch from the group, though it wasn’t quite dark enough to light it yet. This was further than she’d ever been from the castle, and the territory was unfamiliar — it was rockier here than the sandy shores closer to the Keep, and she scanned the area carefully, looking for any sign of Perry. This was getting to be a good distance from the Keep — she could imagine Perry using this area to stash Eamon for the day, waiting for nightfall so he could lay his trap… she said as much to Niall, who sighed.
“That’s if we’re right about that being his plan, of course,” he said in a voice that betrayed his worry. Helen glanced over at him, saw him fighting to control himself. “There’s just so much we don’t know — so many things that could already have gone wrong — what if he’s harmed him? What if he’s killed him already, and is using his body as bait?”
She was shocked by the image. “Niall — you can’t think like that.”
“I’m terrified of losing him, Helen.” He rubbed his face with his hand, looking utterly miserable. “Especially after I’ve already lost you.”
She stared at him for a long moment, completely nonplussed by what he’d said. Lost her? What the hell did he mean? Did he think that argument they’d had last night was the end of their relationship? Had he been thinking, this whole day, that she’d left him, that she was done with him, that it was all over? Well what the hell did he think she was doing here? “Are you serious?” she asked, fighting to control her temper.
“Of course I am,” he said, glancing at her in confusion. “I’d not joke about losing you —”
“You haven’t lost me, you daft fool! I’m here, aren’t I? I haven’t left your side all day!”
He hesitated. “You — you want to find Eamon, everyone wants —”
“Of course I want to find Eamon! I want to help you find Eamon! I could have done any number of things — joined the search party, fetched and carried food for the guards — but it’s you I’ve been riding with all day, Niall. I’m here. I’m
with you.” She sighed. “Yes, we have things to talk about, for sure, but… I’m here to stay.”
“You are?”
“Aye,” she said, doing her best impression of his accent as he stared at her in the light of the setting sun. “And you can either appreciate that or look like a damn fool for denying it.”
Chapter 57
They rode in silence for a little while longer. Helen was resisting the urge to glance over at Niall with all her effort — she could feel him looking at her, feel the warmth of his smile resting on her, but she was still a little annoyed with him for making such a foolish assumption about her. Besides, she needed to focus on riding. It was still a new skill, and the last thing they needed right now was for her to make some rookie error and fall from her horse.
And the gathering night was making her worry. The sun was low on the horizon, just about to brush the horizon with its lower edge, and the light was red and gold… but she knew from experience that they only had about another hour of daylight left before it was pitch dark. Niall had a torch, at least, but still — she was worried about night closing in around them. And that wasn’t all that would close in around them… with a herd of hungry Kelpies on the loose, she was interested in getting back to the Keep the minute they found Eamon. But she was determined to find him. Even if it meant riding all night, she’d find the little boy. He had to be here somewhere. She knew it. Despite Niall’s misgivings, despite his concerns about her being wrong about Perry’s plan… she’d always had good instincts. Ever since she was a little girl, she had an uncanny knack for using evidence to figure out what people were thinking, what their next plan was. It was what had brought her to the FBI. It was what made her such a good private investigator, when the Bureau’s red tape and corruption had finally burned her out. And it was what made her sure, sure as she’d ever been of anything, that if they kept riding, they’d find Eamon and Perry on the shore.
Needed By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Forever Book 5) Page 34