“I need ye to cause a distraction so I can slip away and look in the last few rooms outside the great hall before we go. I want to ken if her faither is here or no’ before we leave. I’ve been told he is ill and restin’, but I havena yet found him.”
“If so, are ye goin’ to turn him in for what he’s done?”
“I think it’s our duty, dinna ye?”
“But he’s Alana’s faither. Doesna that mean anythin’ to ye?”
“Nay. No’ anymore. Alana is nothin’ to me but a traitor, just like her auld man. Now, hurry up and cause a distraction. I’ve got work to do.”
“Now?” Caleb made a face and looked down to his trencher filled with food. “I am no’ done eatin’ yet. Besides, I wouldna ken how to make a distraction.”
“Oh, aye, ye are finished.” Ethan whistled for Trapper. The dog ran over to the table. “Go on, boy,” said Ethan, getting up from the table and nodding to Caleb’s trencher of food.
“Ethan, nay!” shouted Caleb, but it was too late. Trapper gladly put his paws on the table and started to devour Caleb’s food. Caleb yelled, the dog barked, and Slink jumped up on the table making a hissing noise. One of the servant women screamed and dropped a platter of food before turning and running back to the kitchen. The two guards ran over to the dais as well as Kirstine and Finn.
“Now that’s what I call a distraction,” said Ethan proudly, getting up from the table. This was his chance. He slipped back into the shadows, and while the commotion was taking everyone’s attention, he hurried down the corridor to look for Alana’s father. He was about to turn and go in another direction when a door to a chamber opened. He jumped back and stood with his back against the wall peeking out from around a corner.
“I’ll be back, Faither. Please get some sleep.” It was Alana. She left the room and hurried back toward the great hall.
Ethan stepped around the corner, checking the hallway to make certain he hadn’t been noticed. Then he quickly slipped inside the room that Alana had just exited, thankful the door was not locked. Stopping in his tracks, he laid eyes on a thin man sitting on the edge of the bed with his feet hanging over the side.
“Gil? Gil Chisholm?” he asked, thinking this man looked so thin and gaunt that it was hard to recognize him as the same man that was once almost his father-by-marriage.
“Who are ye?” The man’s head snapped up and he looked at Ethan. “Ethan MacKeefe,” he said under his breath, looking upset, quickly pulling a blanket over his legs. “What are ye doin’ here?”
“I think the real question is what are ye doin’ here?”
“What does it matter?”
“It matters because I think ye are in hidin’, ye thief and traitor. Ye will pay for the things ye’ve done. I will make certain of it.” His hand went to the hilt of his sword.
“Ye shouldna be on this isle at all. Ye must leave anon before it’s too late.”
“I’m no’ leavin’ before I get some answers.” Ethan walked closer to the open window and glanced out. He thought for a moment he saw the mast of a ship disappearing behind the rocks on the far side of the isle, then decided he must be mistaken. The cliffs were too jagged and steep. There was nowhere to dock a boat on the west side of the Isle of Kerrera. “What is goin’ on here?” he asked.
“There is nothin’ happenin’.”
“Why are ye even on this isle? And why are Alana and her siblin’s here? This is no place for them. Especially no’ for her young daughter.”
His head snapped up at hearing that. “She told ye about her daughter?”
“Why arena ye all back with yer clan?”
“Ye ask too many questions, MacKeefe. Now, go back to yer camp and dinna return. I canna make my past mistakes right and neither can I bring back my dead wife who died because of me. I canna expect ye’ll ever forgive me, and I’m no’ askin’ ye to. I dinna care what happens to me, but just please dinna let Alana and my other children or my grandchildren suffer because of the bad choices I’ve made in life. They are innocent and dinna deserve to live in fear and solitude because of me.”
“What do ye mean? What are ye sayin’?”
Ethan felt like he was finally going to get his answers when he heard a bloodcurdling woman’s scream from outside the open window. He ran over and saw a flash of white as something . . . or someone fell to the ground from the tower window.
“What was that?” Ethan’s heart sped up. He knew what it was. It was the ghost of the bride of Mad Murdock.
“That? Oh, that,” said Gil. “It’s just the ghost of the late laird’s wife of the castle.”
“Mad Murdock,” said Ethan under his breath.
“Aye. He killed her by pushin’ her from the tower to her death.”
“Then it’s true!” Ethan felt very uncomfortable. His memories of his childhood when he snuck into this castle and was frightened out of his mind rose to the surface. “How often does this happen?” he asked, feeling very unsettled. “And how can ye stay here with . . . with that? Doesna it bother ye?” He didn’t understand why Gil didn’t even seem upset.
“It happens a lot,” he said. “I dinna like it, of course no’. There are some frightenin’ things that happen here, usually at night. But it keeps people away and that’s why I’m here. After all, ye ken more than anyone that I am a fugitive now. What am I supposed to do?”
“Turn yerself in,” spat Ethan. “Or perhaps I should do that for ye?”
“If ye do, ye’ll be condemnin’ Alana and the others to a life behind bars for helpin’ me. Do ye really want that to happen to the girl who was once yer betrothed?”
Before he could answer, the door to the room burst open and the two guards rushed in with their swords drawn.
Immediately, Ethan drew his sword as well.
“We warned ye to leave,” snarled Graeme. “Now, I guess we will be forced to take measures into our own hands.”
“What’s goin’ on here?” asked Kirstine, pushing into the room with Finn right behind her. She looked tired and seemed out of breath as she rested her hand on her large belly.
Caleb ran up next, chewing on something while Trapper rushed into the room almost knocking over the men. “I thought I heard someone scream. Is everyone all right?” The dog turned and growled at the guards, showing its teeth.
“We warned him to go and instead we find him in here,” said Albert.
“Leave him be,” Gil answered from the bed. “He means us no harm.”
“I dinna believe it.” Graeme took a step forward while Caleb drew his sword from behind him. The guards turned, grasping their weapons, keeping an eye on both Ethan and Caleb.
“Move aside. Let me in,” demanded Alana as she pushed through the men. She stopped in front of Ethan with a look of horror on her face. “Ethan! What are ye doin’ in here?”
“It seems I’ve found yer faither,” he answered.
Alana felt like things were going from bad to worse. The last thing she wanted was for Ethan to find her father when Diarmad had him chained to the bed. How was she going to explain this?
“He’s ill,” she blurted out, her eyes darting over to her father, and then back to Ethan. “He should be restin’. Ye need to leave anon.”
“Alana, someone better explain to me what is goin’ on around here, and they’d better do it fast,” warned Ethan.
“My faither has . . . gone mad,” she said, seeing the disappointment in her father’s eyes by talking about him as if he’d lost his mind. Still, she had to say something to satisfy Ethan so he would hopefully leave the isle. “We’ve been here for years in hidin’, hopin’ my faither’s mind would return to normal, but it hasna,” she said, wishing Ethan would believe it. “He’s only chained to the bed because we dinna want him to hurt himself.”
“He’s chained to the bed?” Ethan’s brows arched in surprise.
“Losh me, Alana!” said her father. “Did ye really have to say that?” He threw his hands up in the air, pushing the blanket
to the side, no longer trying to conceal his shackle.
Alana could have kicked herself when she realized Ethan hadn’t known. Her father shook his head in disgust and lay back on the bed.
“Alana, I never thought ye’d be so cold as to chain up yer own faither,” gasped Ethan. “Why didna ye seek out help for him? Or at least tell someone ye were here all this time?”
“Ethan, please,” she begged, not wanting to have to lie to him anymore. “It would be better if ye just left the isle and never returned.”
The look he gave her said it all. Hurt showed in his eyes as well as irritation. She hadn’t meant for it to sound crass but he was upsetting everyone and he needed to leave. For now.
“I had Finn load the box of Osla’s things onto yer boat,” said Kirstine, stepping between the guards and Ethan.
“I see,” said Ethan, still standing with his sword drawn.
“God’s eyes, can everyone put down the weapons?” asked Alana.
“It seems to me yer laird wouldna want to harbor a thief who is goin’ mad. So why is he?” asked Ethan suspiciously.
“Men, lower yer weapons,” commanded Gil from the bed.
“Do it,” added Alana.
The guards slowly sheathed their weapons. Ethan and Caleb did the same.
“Ethan, please. Just leave here and dinna ask anymore questions,” begged Alana. “Leave this isle quickly and never return.”
“Do ye really mean that?” he asked. She felt his pain like a knife driving into her heart. “After all we had together, ye are sayin’ ye never want to see me again?”
“That’s right,” she answered, biting her bottom lip. If he didn’t leave soon, she was going to start crying, and she didn’t want to look weak in front of anyone right now.
“Well then. I suppose it’s time for us to leave, Caleb,” said Ethan.
“Aye, I suppose so.” Caleb reached down and picked up his pine marten that had followed him into the room.
“Guidbye, Alana,” Ethan said softly, making her want to run and throw herself into his arms, begging him never to go. She’d played the ghost again, hoping to scare him off. But now she was frightened that she would never see Ethan again. What had she done?
“Ethan, let me walk ye down to the boat,” said Alana, wanting to spend a few more minutes with him. She took a step forward but he stopped her.
“Nay!” He held up a halting hand to keep her from going with him. “I’d really rather ye didna do that. Come, Trapper,” he said, hurrying from the room, making Alana feel as if she’d just lost her one chance to make things right and be happy again.
* * *
As soon as Ethan and Caleb left the room, Alana pushed Albert and Graeme out of the way and headed for the door. “Why did ye have to draw yer swords on Ethan?” she spat, feeling like she’d never see him again, and that truly bothered her.
“Diarmad’s ship entered the cove,” announced Gil from the bed.
“That’s right. We came here to do what we could to get rid of Ethan before Diarmad saw him. But how did ye ken Diarmad had returned?” Albert asked Gil.
“I saw Ethan’s expression as he looked out the window,” explained Alana’s father.
“So . . . he saw the ship, too?” asked Alana. This was not good at all.
“I canna be sure, but I think so.” The chain on Gil’s leg jangled as he moved. “Ethan threatened to turn me in for what I’ve done.”
“Do ye think he’ll say anythin’ when he gets back to the mainland?” asked Graeme.
“Part of me hopes he does,” Alana told them. “We canna go on livin’ this way.”
“What are ye complainin’ about now?” asked Diarmad, walking into the room with a few of his men at his heels.
“My daughter is just concerned for my health,” answered Alana’s father, coming to the rescue. If Diarmad didn’t say anything about Ethan, then Ethan must have left without being seen. She breathed a silent sigh of relief. He was safe.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with yer health,” grunted Diarmad. “All right, everyone down to the cove. Augey, unchain the auld man and bring him along, too. We’ll need him as well as the girl to deal with these smugglers since they speak French, and we dinna.”
“There are more smugglers here? Already?” asked Alana in shock. “But ye just returned from deliverin’ a shipment.”
“That’s right. And if ye werena all up here instead of watchin’ for our ship like ye’re supposed to, ye would have kent that. Now, hurry up.”
“Nay,” Alana answered boldly. “I refuse to help ye anymore.”
“Ye willna refuse me, because if ye do, yer siblin’s or mayhap that little girl of yers will suffer the consequences,” growled Diarmad. “Now, let’s go.” He grabbed Alana by the arm so tightly that she almost screamed out loud.
“Alana will help ye,” said her father from the bed. “So will I. Now get this damned chain off of my leg and leave my daughter alone.”
“Kirstine, stay with Isobel,” said Alana as Diarmad hauled her away. She grabbed a cloak from a hook on the wall while Augey unchained her father. She didn’t like the fact that they’d been chaining him up while they were gone. She also didn’t like the fact that they’d had more and more smugglers showing up in the cove lately. This life of living hell was going to have to end, and she was the only one who could do anything to stop it. Alana already missed Ethan, and felt like she’d made the wrong choice in not telling him everything while she’d had the chance. In trying to protect the others, she severed any thread of hope of ever getting back together with him. She hated herself more now than when she’d first left him at the altar.
They headed to the hidden cove, trudging through the snow. The sun was out overhead, but the cold settled in her bones, making her feel weary. She was tired of living in fear and ready to do something to change it. But to her dismay, she realized that she might have made some wrong choices concerning Ethan’s visit. And because of her mistake, it might be too late to do anything about it.
Chapter 8
Ethan felt terrible just leaving Alana on the isle, but she had told him she wanted him to leave and she never wanted him to return. There was only so much rejection a man could take from one woman.
“I’m surprised ye and Alana didna get back together,” said Caleb as they sailed the small boat to the MacKeefe shores. Caleb’s pine marten lay curled up in Caleb’s pouch while Ethan’s dog sat in the boat whimpering, looking at the box of things that were supposedly Osla’s. The dog’s tail swiped back and forth over the floor of the boat.
“It’s obvious that she really doesna want me,” he answered, still not wanting to believe it was true.
“Are ye sure?” asked Caleb, taking a swallow of wine from a bottle that Alana had sent with them. “She still looked at ye in that same way that she used to when ye were engaged to be married, if ye didna notice.”
“I think it’s just yer imagination, Caleb.” Ethan answered, looked out over the water and wishing it was so. The kiss they’d shared felt real. Or so she made it seem. All it did was stir feelings within him of wanting her back in his arms . . . back in his bed. “What we had was in the past and long gone. I can see now that it was all a lie.”
“Is that really what ye believe?”
Ethan thought about it for a moment and let out a deep sigh. “I’m no’ sure. Mayhap I’m all wrong, but it is so hard to tell. Somethin’ is no’ right there. I dinna understand it, but Alana is lyin’ to me, I ken she is.”
“Oh, ye mean about her faither? Or about the ghost?”
“About everythin’. Caleb, she just wasna herself. She seemed so cold and . . . worried.”
“Time changes everyone, Ethan. Even ye.”
“Aye, I suppose so. I guess I just need to let it go.”
When they got to the shore, Hawke and Logan were there to greet them.
“We wondered what happened to ye,” said Hawke. His bird cried out from the sky, making lazy circles in th
e air above them.
“We were just gettin’ ready to come lookin’ for ye two,” added Logan. His wolf, Jack, watched them from atop a rock.
“We only stayed overnight because of the storm,” said Caleb, jumping over the side of the boat into the water to help pull it to shore.
“And because Caleb likes to eat,” grunted Ethan.
“Ethan, Ethan! Did ye find my doll?” Sophie came running down to the water with her brother following. “Where is Annabelle? Do ye have her?” she asked anxiously.
“We did have it, but we dinna have it now,” said Caleb, making Ethan want to box his friend’s ears.
“Ye found her and left her on the isle?” Sophie started wailing and all the men groaned.
Trapper barked from the boat, adding to the noise and commotion.
“Home sweet home,” Ethan muttered. “Get out of the boat, Trapper,” commanded Ethan, but the dog stayed there barking at the covered box of things they’d brought back for the children.
“What’s that?” Oliver pointed at the box.
“Those are some of yer mathair’s things,” said Ethan. “Kirstine and Alana thought ye might want them.”
Trapper whined and wagged his tail as Oliver jumped into the boat to eagerly look in the large box. Sophie, on the other hand, continued to cry.
“Losh me!” cried Oliver, jumping back in surprise. He knocked into Trapper and both he and the dog fell over the side of the boat and into the water.
“What are ye doin’, lad?” called out Hawke, rushing over to the boat as the rest of the men laughed.
“Look,” said Oliver, standing up in the water and pointing toward the box.
“Uh, Ethan,” said Hawke in a solemn voice. “Ye might want to come over here and see this for yerself.”
“What for?” asked Ethan. “If my hound falls in the water then he deserves to be cold and wet. He can dry off by the fire with the boy. They need to be more careful.”
“Just get over here. Now,” said Hawke, sounding as if it were something important.
“Sophie, come here,” said Logan, picking up the crying girl. All the men walked down to the boat to see what Hawke wanted.
Highland Spirit: Highland Chronicles Series - Book 2 Page 10