Highland Spirit: Highland Chronicles Series - Book 2

by Rose, Elizabeth

  “I’m sure it is.”

  She started to open it, but stopped. Somehow, she started thinking she didn’t want to know what was inside. This treasure caused the deaths of not only people in her family but also so many of the Templar knights. “Ethan, I dinna think I can do it.”

  “Then let me,” he said, pushing her hands out of the way and flipping up the lock.

  “The box seems so small. I thought it would be bigger,” she commented as Ethan lifted the lid and they peered inside.

  “What’s this?” growled Ethan, holding up what looked like a scroll.

  “It seems there are only scrolls in here,” said Alana in confusion, inspecting the inside of the box. “Ethan, are ye sure there is no’ somethin’ else in the secret hidin’ spot?”

  “Nay, that was it,” he said, going back and checking for possibly another hiding spot but he didn’t find one. “There is nothin’ else. Och, this doesna seem to be any kind of treasure at all.”

  “Oh, but it is,” came a voice from behind them. Ethan jumped up with his sword in hand to come face to face with someone he hadn’t seen in a long time now. The man had a long scar on his face by his eye and Ethan had been the one to give it to him.

  “Mad Murdock,” he spat, wanting nothing more than to run the man through with his sword. Because of this man, Ethan had lived his life in fear of ghosts.

  “Step away from the treasure,” said Murdock, holding out his sword.

  Alana slowly stood up, not able to believe there was a man in the room. “Where did ye come from?” asked Alana. “When did ye get here?”

  “He’s been here all the time,” said Ethan. “My guess is that he’s been scarin’ everyone away because he is guardin’ the treasure.”

  “Yer guess is right,” said Murdock, taking a step closer. “I’ve been livin’ in secret, Alana, since ye all claimed my castle as yers. There are many hidden passageways at Blackbriar. I’ve seen to it for a fast escape if I ever needed it.”

  “But I dinna understand,” said Alana. “My mathair and uncle died to protect a treasure. Surely, it is more than just a few dozen scrolls?”

  “The Templar treasure was split up, and hidden in many parts of several countries to keep it safe,” explained the man. “Alana, ye dinna ken me, but yer great-grandfaither and mine were once guid friends, and also of the Knights Templar.”

  “What?” she asked in surprise. “But I thought they couldna have families.”

  “No’ everythin’ is always as it seems,” he answered, keeping an eye on Ethan, as they both kept their swords raised.

  “Ye see, it was up to our families to protect this part of the treasure. It was only supposed to stay here until another guardian came to get it. But as of yet, no one has ever come.”

  “I am no’ surprised,” said Ethan looking back at the box of scrolls. “I wouldna come for a few scrolls either. Are ye sure there is no’ a box of silver or gold somewhere?”

  “No’ here,” said Murdock. “And those scrolls are more valuable than ye think.”

  “What’s on them?” asked Ethan. “The location of the rest of the treasure?”

  “Nay,” said Murdock with a chuckle. “It is solely religious and no’ even in a language most of ye can read.”

  “Then what guid is this?” asked Ethan. “And why did ye kill yer wife over it?”

  “I didna kill her!” shouted the man, making Alana jump.

  “What about her ghost?” asked Alana. “Is that even real?”

  “It is,” he said with a nod, getting very choked up.

  “It’s said she wants vengeance on ye and that she walks the battlements and screams because she wants ye dead,” said Ethan.

  “Nay! That’s no’ true. She stays earthbound to protect me instead.”

  “I dinna understand,” said Alana. “Why?”

  “Because, someone came long ago to steal the treasure. She, just like yer family, Alana, died protectin’ it. Actually, she died protectin’ me. She jumped in front of a blade that was meant for me.”

  “Really,” said Ethan. “What happened to the attacker?”

  “There were more than one and I killed them all,” said Murdock, getting a crazed look in his eyes.

  “I willna let ye harm Alana and her family,” snarled Ethan, once again wanting to take off the man’s head.

  “I dinna plan to. That is, unless ye try to take the treasure from me.”

  “We dinna want it,” spat Ethan. “Take yer fool treasure and leave us alone.”

  “Aye, ye should have it,” said Alana, closing up the box and putting the key on top of it. “Please take it and guard it. We mean no harm. We dinna want the treasure.”

  “Well I do,” came a gruff voice from the door.

  Alana’s head snapped up to Diarmad standing at the door with a half-dozen of his men right behind them. They were all armed and ready to fight.

  “Diarmad,” she cried. “Ye canna have this. It isna yers. It belongs to the Knights Templar.”

  “Step away from the box, Alana, or I swear I’ll strike ye down dead,” snarled Diarmad.

  “Ye’ll never have this treasure,” shouted Murdock, swinging his sword at Diarmad. But Murdock was very old, and Alana wasn’t even sure he had the strength in him to fight.

  “I’m with ye, Murdock,” said Ethan, lunging forward and taking out one of Diarmad’s guards who had meant to kill him. With the clashing of swords, Alana’s world once again felt as if it were crashing down around her. Murdock and Ethan could not fight off Diarmad and his men by themselves. They were going to be killed in the end.

  “Nay! Stop the fightin’,” she cried, but no one listened.

  “Alana, take cover,” shouted Ethan. “Protect yerself, lass.”

  “Nay. I want to help ye,” she cried out, not even having a weapon.

  “There is nothin’ ye can do,” he called out to her as four more guards entered the room and fought with Ethan and Murdock.

  “Kill them. Kill them all,” said Diarmad. “I’ll get the treasure.”

  He came for the scrolls, but Alana couldn’t let him have them. She picked up the metal box and backed away from him.

  “Hand them over, Alana,” snarled Diarmad. “Ye canna win. It’s too late.”

  “Save the treasure,” shouted Murdock.

  “Enough out of ye,” spat Diarmad, turning and shoving his sword into Murdock’s chest. The man’s eyes opened wide and his sword fell from his hand and clattered to the ground. Alana screamed. Now it was just Ethan to fight off everyone and the room was filling up with Diarmad’s men quickly.

  “Alana, I’m sorry,” Ethan shouted. “I never meant for this to happen.”

  “I love ye, Ethan,” she cried, knowing this would be their demise.

  “I love ye, too. I never stopped lovin’ ye, even when I thought ye left me.”

  “Enough of this doitit chatter,” snarled Diarmad, giving Alana a push, sending her to the ground. “I’ll take that now,” he said, bending over to pick up the chest.

  Right as he did, a secret door in the wall opened and in ran Alana’s father, and Caleb, Graeme and Albert and even Finn, all armed with weapons. Behind them followed the servants carrying pots, pans, pokers and eating knives, rushing forward into the room to help them fight.

  Diarmad saw this and, holding the box under his arm, he pulled Alana to a standing position. He yanked her over to him and held his sword to her throat. Alana was so shocked that she couldn’t move.

  “Release her,” spat Gil, moving forward with a dagger in one hand and his chain and shackle in the other. He limped since he was weak and ill.

  “Alana!” shouted Ethan from across the room, fighting like a madman, making his way to her.

  “Diarmad, ye have been a boil on my neck long enough,” growled Gil. “Ye are responsible for the death of my wife and her brother, and for makin’ my family live in hell all these years. I canna allow ye to live. Ye will die by my hand now, because I will g
ladly kill ye and have no remorse.”

  Diarmad chuckled. “Ye think ye can kill me, auld man, with just a dagger and a chain? Well think again.”

  Alana had to do something to help. So she stuck out her foot and tripped Diarmad, at the same time grabbing the treasure and diving to the floor. She looked up to see her father lunging at Diarmad. Diarmad raised his sword and Alana screamed as he stabbed her father. But her father did not give up. He hung on to Diarmad, pulling him to the tower window with him as he stumbled. Then in one motion, he pulled Diarmad with him out the window and they disappeared as they plummeted to the ground.

  “Nay! Faither!” Alana screamed, dropping the treasure and running to the window to look out.

  “Diarmad’s dead,” Caleb called out, fighting with the rest of them.

  “End this, now!” shouted Ethan. “Diarmad’s men, listen to me. Ye are outnumbered. Surrender, and yer lives will be spared.”

  “Put down yer weapons,” commanded one of Diarmad’s men. They didn’t do it, and continued fighting. Then Alana spun around when she heard the scream of a woman.

  “It’s the ghost!” shouted Finn.

  Alana looked up to see a woman in white standing in the entrance of the secret passageway. Her head was covered and her arms waved wildly as she released a bloodcurdling scream once again.

  “It’s no’ Alana,” yelled one of Diarmad’s men. “She’s standin’ right there.”

  “It really is the ghost,” shouted another and, one by one, their swords hit the floor.

  “We surrender,” one of them called out and all the servants cheered.

  Alana ran to the secret passageway, reaching out and pulling the veil from over the woman’s head. “Kirstine!” she said and started laughing.

  “I wanted to help, too,” said her sister. “I’m glad ye’re all right.”

  “Faither is dead,” said Finn, coming over to his sisters.

  “Where is Isobel?” asked Alana, suddenly frightened for her daughter.

  “Dinna worry. She is in my chamber with the bairn,” Kirstine told her. “Slink and Trapper are there, too.”

  “Take the prisoners and lock them in the dungeon until we decide what to do with them,” commanded Ethan.

  Hearing a moaning noise from the floor, Alana realized Murdock was not yet dead. She ran to him and dropped to her knees, using her tartan to try to stop the flow of blood from his chest.

  “I’ll help ye, Murdock. I’ll sew ye up,” she told him. “Dinna worry.”

  “Alana.” He reached out and took her arm. “I’m about to die, and I need ye to keep the treasure safe now. Ye are the only one who can do it.”

  “Me?” Her heart jumped into her throat. “Nay, I dinna want to be the guardian. Please, dinna make me do it.”

  “Ye have to. If no’, someone will turn in the treasure to the king. It canna fall into the wrong hands. These scrolls have valuable knowledge and belong to the Templars.”

  “So what am I supposed to do?”

  “I have waited for years . . . but no one has come for it. Last night, I had a vision. Someone will be here . . . very soon. Ye will . . . ye will ken them by their ring. It looks like mine. Take it.”

  “Nay, I couldna,” she said, looking at the ring with the Templar cross engraved upon it on his finger.

  “Ye must. They will now . . . contact ye.”

  “What? How do ye ken that?” she asked. “They havena come for the treasure in all these years. Even with yer vision, how do ye ken it is true?”

  “They will come,” he said, his eyes closing. “It will be . . . soon. Now take . . . my ring.”

  She did as he asked, and then he smiled.

  “Yer family would have . . . been proud of ye. Ye . . . helped to keep . . . the treasure . . . safe. And now . . . I can . . . die.” With that, he closed his eyes and drew his last breath.

  “Murdock? Murdock, please dinna die.” Panic filled her. “Dinna put this responsibility on my shoulders.” Tears streamed from her eyes. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ethan, bruised and bloodied but still alive.

  “Come, Alana,” he said. “I want to feel my wife in my arms to ken ye are still alive.”

  Chapter 17

  Ethan downed a swig of Mountain Magic, looking around the great hall of Blackbriar Castle the next morning, after having spent the night with Alana making love and holding each other all night long. The great hall was filled with people now, most of them being the MacKeefes who had come from the mainland at Ethan’s request so they could decide what to do with the smugglers in the dungeon.

  “Ethan!” called out a man.

  Ethan turned to see his father, Onyx. “Da?” he asked, getting off the bench to greet him. “What are ye doin’ here?” He embraced his father in a half-hug.

  His father, although he was really English, was raised by the MacKeefes. Onyx ended up marrying an Englishwoman and lived in England, but he continued to act and dress like a Scot, never wanting to let go of the fact that he was a MacKeefe at heart.

  “I was passin’ through the Highlands, Son. Storm told me ye might be in trouble. What happened here?”

  “Nothin’ I couldna handle.”

  Onyx looked up with his two-toned eyes, one of orange and the other of black. “I hear ye’re married now and ye have a daughter.”

  “Aye,” he said with a smile. “I am married to my sweetheart from childhood, Alana Chisholm.”

  “Did I hear someone mention my name?” Alana walked up carrying Isobel. She looked vibrant today and almost seemed to glow since she was so relaxed and happy now that her family was free of Diarmad and they were no longer prisoners.

  “Da, this is yer granddaughter, Isobel,” said Ethan, taking the little girl from Alana.

  “Well, hello there, Isobel. I’m yer grandda.” Onyx smiled at the girl. She looked at his eyes and jerked backward, hiding her head against Ethan’s chest.

  “It’s all right, sweetheart. Grandda’s eyes are . . . different, but he is no’ a demon,” Ethan explained.

  “Are ye sure?” she asked, peeking out, clutching her doll.

  “I’m sure,” said Ethan. “Now, I see Trapper over there and I think he is lookin’ for ye. Why dinna ye take yer grandda over to see him?”

  “Doggy,” she said, no longer afraid. Ethan put her down and she took Onyx’s hand and they headed away together.

  “I am so happy that things turned out,” said Alana with a smile. “But I do miss my faither.”

  “Alana, he gave his life protectin’ ye and his family,” said Ethan. “It was his choice. He chose to die rather than to have to be imprisoned or even tortured for his life of crime and past decisions.”

  “I ken,” she said with a nod. “I suppose it is for the better. And as far as I’m concerned, he has redeemed himself. I will no longer think of him as anythin’ but a hero – a man who died to save his family.”

  “I guess I can see that,” said Ethan with a nod.

  “Ethan, what will happen to me and my siblin’s?” she asked. “Since we were involved in the smugglin’ against our wills, I am frightened we will be punished in some way.”

  “Ye ken that the MacKeefes will do everythin’ we can to clear yer names,” said Ethan. “I promise I willna let anyone harm ye.”

  “Ethan,” said Caleb, walking over with an older man who looked to be a knight. “This man says he is lookin’ for Murdock.”

  “I’m sorry, but Murdock died yesterday,” said Ethan. “Is there somethin’ I can help ye with?”

  “There wouldna happen to be anyone named . . . Chisholm here, is there?” asked the stranger.

  “I’m a Chisholm,” said Alana. “Or at least I was before I married Ethan. Now I’m a MacKeefe,” she said, looking up and smiling at Ethan. “My name is Alana. Who are ye?”

  “I’m Sir Douglas, and I am honored to meet ye,” he said, reaching out to take her hand in his to kiss it. When he did, Alana gasped.

  �
��What is it, sweetheart?” asked Ethan.

  “The ring,” she said softly, nodding at the man’s hand. He wore a silver ring with a big circle and inside it was the engraving of a Templar cross.

  “Aye, it was my great-grandfaither’s ring,” he said. “Does it . . . mean anythin’ to ye?” He looked at her and waited.

  She pulled Murdock’s ring out of her pocket and held it up to him. “This belonged to a man named Murdock. Aye, it means somethin’ to me.”

  Sir Douglas looked around quickly and then over to Ethan and Caleb. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

  “What for?” asked Caleb.

  “I think ye have somethin’ for me,” said the man.

  “Aye, right this way,” said Alana, understanding now who he was. She led him up to the tower. Caleb and Ethan followed. When they were inside, the man looked around once more and then whispered.

  “I have finally found ye. I am sorry it took so long. I have had others die and I have taken over their position of guardian but it has taken a while to find where to go. Now tell me, do ye have the Templar treasure?”

  “Wait a minute,” said Ethan. “How do we ken ye should really take it?”

  “That’s right,” said Caleb. “Ethan, if ye turn that treasure in to the king, ye will get mentioned in the Highland Chronicles for sure.”

  “Alana?” asked Ethan. “Do ye think we can trust him?”

  “Ethan, Murdock told me to look for the man with this same ring and to give him the treasure. Aye, we can trust it is him.” She looked over to Sir Douglas. “Murdock had a vision and told me ye’d be here soon and he was right.” Alana picked up the box with the scrolls and the key.

  “Wait,” said Ethan, as she started to hand it over. “Alana, if ye give that to the king, he will most likely clear yer name. Without it, I am no’ sure what is goin’ to happen.”

  “I dinna care,” said Alana. “I have to do this. Too many people have died to keep it safe and in the hands of the Templars. I’ll no’ live with the burden of havin’ made the wrong choice. My faither did, and look what happened because of it. Nay, Ethan. I need to do this. It is the right choice.”