Legend of the Crown and Thistle

by Janie Brians

  "You're going to need this, I think," and she handed him the wallet.

  "Ah! Thanks, dearie. Must've fallen out. I'd have looked pretty foolish trying to pay without any money, eh? Now, get back to your boyfriend!" and he turned her around and pushed her forward with a laugh.

  She walked back to the pub, all the while looking for another sign of Chris. She saw nothing more of him.

  "This is too weird," she thought, "I'm definitely calling Annie tonight. Maybe he said something to her about coming here."

  "Did you catch him?" Liam asked her as she sat down.

  "Yes, but the weirdest thing just happened. I'm sure I just saw a friend of mine from Freeport. It's the second time I've seen him here in town. I called out to him, but either he didn't hear me or he didn't want to see me. I don't know what to think. He's not got the best reputation back home, so there's no telling what he's up to here."

  "I'll have to remember what a suspicious mind you have," he teased. "Maybe he's just here on vacation like you, my girl."

  "Then why won't he talk to me?"

  "Um...well, is he married?"

  "Yes...but they're separated right now."

  "Aha!" Liam said as if that explained everything. "Maybe he's here with a girlfriend and doesn't want to be seen."

  "Could be... I guess..." but she wasn't convinced. Malcolm returned a little while later just as the meals were being served. As the evening progressed, the pub crowd became bigger and more boisterous. Just as they were leaving, the crowd broke out into a highland tune.

  "Now that's a happy lot," Malcolm said and proceeded to serenade his two friends with the same tune all the way home.

  Once again Lizzie sat curled up on the couch next to a blazing fire. This time she was reading a book she'd found on the shelf in her bedroom. She was enjoying sitting there with Liam close by working on his book. She looked up to see him watching her.

  He smiled and said, "I like seeing you curled up so comfortably on my couch. I wish..." He left the rest unsaid, but Lizzie thought she knew what he'd meant. She smiled back at him. Malcolm had gone to bed early. Lizzie was waiting up to make the call to Anne. She continued to read until about eleven o'clock. She got up and, as she stretched her back and arms, she asked Liam where she should make her call.

  "There's a phone right over there, or if you want privacy there's also one in your room. You must not have noticed it. It's under the roll-top of the desk, I think. Each room has an extension."

  "Good, I'll go up there so I don't disturb you."

  He rose and, putting his arm around her he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "You can't help but disturb me."

  "Flattery?" she said as they walked up the stairs.

  "Honesty," he answered and kissed her good-night in front of her door.

  "Annie! Hi, it's me!" Lizzie said into the receiver a few minutes later.

  "Hi there! Wow! I didn't expect to get another call. Are you okay?"

  "I'm having the best time, Annie! Right now I'm calling from McFallen House. It's Liam's family home. It's huge! Wait till you see the pictures!"

  "You're there with him by yourself?" Anne couldn't keep the concern from her voice.

  "No, don't worry, I'm perfectly safe. Uncle's here too, although the old guy went to bed early tonight. A little too much ale this evening, I think," she laughed. "He said to give you his love."

  "Good old Malcolm."

  "Listen, I called you for two reasons. First of all, today we went to visit a neighbor of Liam's. She has a beautiful place. Anyway, she found something pretty exciting, something about Mary Stuart. Something probably nobody else knows about."

  "Really? Something about the crest?"

  "No, unfortunately not, but still it's pretty amazing. Remember in school we were told that she gave birth to twins that died at birth? Well, today I actually saw with my own eyes a diary written by a woman who worked in Loch Leven Castle where Mary was imprisoned for many years. This woman claimed that the twins probably didn't die. She insinuated that they could've been smuggled out of the castle on the night they were born. And, from other evidence, it's probable that they were taken to Denmark to live with their father, Lord Bothwell."

  "Goodness, that would change the story a bit, wouldn't it? What happened to the boys later?"

  "Don't know. After Denmark they just seemed to disappear. Could've been found by Mary's enemies and murdered or, they just grew up and lived as somebody else's children. I guess we'll never know that for sure."

  "Seems like the more you learn about Mary, the more mysteries there are to solve," Anne laughed.

  "Yeah. And speaking of mystery, have you seen Chris lately?"

  "Chris Dean? No, not for a week or so. Not since he was here that Friday night. Why?"

  "Well, don't think I'm crazy, but I'm sure I've seen him here."

  "In Scotland? But he never said a word to us about it. If he knew you were going to be there at the same time, why didn't he say anything? Doesn't make sense."

  "I know. That's what I keep telling myself," and she proceeded to tell Anne about the two times she'd seen him and his reactions both times and Liam's theory about it all.

  "Well, unfortunately Liam is probably right. He's probably there with some girlfriend. He can be such a jerk sometimes."

  "I don't know, Annie... it's awfully far to take a girlfriend just to have some privacy."

  "Can't say that I like the sound of it either, but I'd hate to think he was up to something more....you just be careful. If he doesn't want to speak to you, don't try to force him, you hear?"

  "Don't worry. I know the kind of people he likes to hang out with. I have no intention of getting too close."

  "Good girl. Just stay close to Liam. I'm sure you won't mind that." Anne laughed.

  "Ha!...I've already thought of that!" Lizzie laughed too. "So, when do you leave for Nassau?"

  "Tomorrow morning. I'm packing right now. Boy, do I need this vacation! I have no intentions of doing a single thing except relax, take walks on the beach, and have my fair share of Bahama Mamas."

  "Sounds like a plan. Can't wait to see you all and tell you everything in person!"

  "Me too. Well, I'll let you go. See you Tuesday and remember, BE CAREFUL!"

  "Okay, don't worry. Give mom and dad a big hug and kiss for me. See you soon."

  Lizzie climbed into bed and fell fast asleep. She had some strange dreams that night. She dreamed that she saw Michelangelo taking his sketches from the wall at Maddy's house, but when he turned around to face her, it was Liam's face she saw instead. She woke up with a jolt. Was it that crazy dream or had she heard a door close down the hallway? She turned to look at the clock. It was twelve-forty-eight. She hadn't been asleep long. Probably Liam had finally stopped working on his book and went to bed. She fell back to sleep quickly.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT SEEMED AS if she had just closed her eyes and opened them again, but when Lizzie looked at the clock it said seven thirty-eight. The phone in the hallway was ringing incessantly. Should she answer it? Where was Liam? Just then the ringing stopped.

  Lizzie got up and dressed. She looked out the window and although there were still some clouds in the sky, it looked like the sun would win out son. She left her room and headed downstairs thinking how much she'd like a cup of hot coffee first thing. As she descended the stairs, she heard footsteps coming down rapidly behind her. She looked up and saw Liam with a very serious look on his face.

  "Good morning," she said with a smile. "Feeling okay?"

  "Just received a call from Maddy," he said with a frown. "Seems she was robbed sometime during the night last night."

  "What! how awful! No one was hurt, I hope," she said in astonishment.

  "Who was hurt?" Malcolm asked coming down the stairs.

  "Nobody. Maddy Thomas just called. She was robbed last night."

  "With that security system?!" he paused then said, "How's Maddy doing? Poor lady, she told me those things are l
ike children to her."

  "Yeah, she's pretty upset as you can imagine. I told her I'd come right over. If you two would prefer to stay here, please help yourself to breakfast."

  "Couldn't we come, Liam? I'd like to be there for her too. Wouldn't you, uncle?"

  "Ay, you're right. We should be. Breakfast can wait."

  On the way to Balintore Lizzie asked Liam, "Did she tell you what was stolen?"

  "No. She was so upset she didn't go into much detail. We'll find out soon enough, I guess."

  As they drove up to the house, they saw three local police cars and one car from Scotland Yard. Police were searching the grounds, some had German Shepherds with them. The car from Scotland Yard belonged to a Chief Inspector J. Bluin, whom they met when they went inside.

  Maddy was sitting on a step of the staircase, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, when they walked in. Mary, the housekeeper, was trying to comfort her. She looked relieved when she saw Liam.

  "She's distraught, sir. I've never seen her like this," Mary whispered to him.

  "Mary, would you make a pot of strong tea? I think she's going to need plenty of it today. Thanks." Mary left for the kitchen. Lizzie and Malcolm sat on either side of Mary, listening to her disjointed account of what happened. Liam went over to speak to Inspector Bluin and then returned to the three on the stairs.

  "I...I woke up this morning...when I came down the stairs...I...I saw the door..." Maddy pointed to the door of the gallery, "it was wide open..." and she began to cry in her handkerchief.

  "There, there Maddy," Malcolm said as he put his arm around her shoulder.."all is not lost, dearie. They may still find your things as well as the dirty scoundrels who stole them from you."

  She looked up at him with a hint of hope in her eyes, "You...do you really think so?"

  "Of course love! These Scotland Yard men are wizards at tracking down this sort of thing."

  Wiping her eyes she said, "Oh, I hope so! I feel as if I've lost my children! It's not the money...! I have good insurance on them...it's more than money...my heart is breaking!" and she hid her face on Malcolm's chest and wept quietly.

  Lizzie looked up at Liam. Instead of seeing pity in his eyes, she was surprised to see a look of, she wasn't sure what, anger? or something else...a steely indifference? He turned away and went back over to the inspector. Suddenly Lizzie remembered something. She got up and walked to the doorway of the gallery. Unable to pass beyond the yellow band stretched across it, she bent over to look at the wall where the sketches hung. They were gone. She felt as if a dark cloud had suddenly appeared and hung ominously over her head. What had Liam said yesterday? "These sketches would more than pay for restoring McFalien House." She had noticed him lost in thought standing in front of them too. Then there was that dream she'd had last night. And hadn't she heard a door shut somewhere in the house last night?

  "Stop it," she told herself, "Liam couldn't do something like this, no matter how badly he needed money," and she pushed the thought away. At that moment she felt him standing next to her.

  "Chief Inspector says they took the Ming Brazier, the Renoir, the porcelain figurines and.." was there the slightest pause in his voice? "the Michelangelo sketches. Millions of pounds worth of art. It's strange, they didn't bother the rest of the house even though there are plenty of things that would have been much easier to get at. Instead, they went straight for the best stuff, despite the alarm system. The dogs were drugged.”

  She couldn't look at him as she asked, "Have they any clues as to who could've done it?"

  He sighed and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

  "Nothing substantial yet. Whoever did this, they were definitely professionals." He walked away leaving her to her own haunted thoughts.

  They spent a few more hours at Balintore until they saw Maddy resting more comfortably in her room. Mary had sent for the doctor who, upon seeing Maddy's emotional state, had suggested she be given a Valium to help relax her. Soon she fell into an exhausted sleep.

  The three of them were rather quiet on the drive back to McFalien House. Malcolm broke the silence with, "It's a sad thing to see happen to such a sweet lady."

  "Yes, but she'll get over it. She still has her millions, don't forget," Liam replied coldly.

  Lizzie couldn't keep silent.

  "How can you be so cold?! Her heart is broken!" Liam made no comment.

  Brunch was a very subdued affair this time. The comfortable friendship they'd enjoyed up till now seemed to have disappeared into the same thin air as Maddy's treasures. Lizzie had developed a tension headache. After finishing her meal, she said she was going to lie down for a while. Malcolm asked if he could borrow Liam's car to go into town.

  "I think I could do with a pint."

  "Pub won't be open for another hour or so," Liam replied. "It's Sunday."

  "Well, I'll just meander around till then. If that's alright with you, lad? Would you like to join me?"

  “No…thanks…here are the keys.” Liam handed him the keys to his cars.

  "Thank-you, laddie." Malcolm seemed to be trying to break the tension that had developed between the three of them. "What about you, love?" he turned to Lizzie, "Care to join your old uncle in a pint?"

  She smiled, "No. I really need to take an aspirin and lie down for awhile." On impulse she added, "I didn't sleep well last night. Woke up hearing a door close somewhere in the house. Anybody else hear it?"

  "Lass, I was far and away in dreamland in the wee hours. I didn'a hear a thing," Malcolm answered.

  "Could have been a shutter banging in the wind. There are a few of them that are very loose in the west wing," Liam replied glibly.

  "Probably...see you later, uncle. Thank-you, Liam, for the meal." Lizzie went up to her room. Once inside, she decided to lock the door. She wouldn't think about why. She took an aspirin from her overnight case and went into the bathroom for a glass of water. After swallowing the pill, she went over to the bed and lay down. If only she could fall asleep. Then she could get relief from the thoughts that kept plaguing her. "Liam... a thief? No it couldn't be. What kind of a person would do that to a friend? Maddy is his friend....But you know how important this house is to him. Maybe he has become obssessed....NO! He'd have to be a monster to do something like this! He'd also have to be pretty handy with electronics to have gotten passed that alarm system, not to mention taking care of those ferocious dogs. Inspector Bluin had said it looked like the work of more than one person. Liam couldn't have done it single-handedly...." She felt a bit relieved at this line of reasoning and, mentally hanging onto it, she finally fell asleep.

  She woke up a little later feeling much refreshed. Her headache was gone and she felt more rational. Although the doubts about Liam were still there, she was more inclined to disregard them. "You've always had an over-active imagination, Lizzie," she told herself. She had a smile on her face as she walked to the window. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. The clouds had all cleared away leaving a bright afternoon sun shining in the blue expanse above.

  As she started to turn away, she caught sight of some movement in the bushes down below. Expecting to see a deer come from behind the bush, she was a little surprised when it turned out to be Liam.

  "Out for a walk, I guess," she thought. She was just about to open the window and call to him when, just then to the right of the gardens someone else emerged from the bushes and was walking away from the house toward the road. Lizzie recognized that walk. Even though she couldn't see the color of his skin, she knew she was watching Chris Dean. Had he and Liam met in the garden? How could they possibly know one another? What could they have to do with one another?

  The dark cloud returned. She had wondered what Chris was doing here, but this...? Was it just coincidence that she'd been seeing him around town and then suddenly millions of dollars worth of art is stolen from a house not ten minutes away? How could he have known about it, though, unless someone else had tipped him off? Chief Inspector Bluin had s
aid it was the work of more than one person....Liam???

  "Oh, Liam! How could you?!" she said out loud. Immediately her mind was made up. She was getting out. She had to get away...to think. If it was Liam and Chris that were responsible, she knew she would have to inform the police....but she needed time... She took a piece of stationery from the desk in her room and wrote Malcolm a note.

  Uncle,

  I'll be at the hotel in Edinburgh. I had to get away. I'll explain when you get there. Be careful!

  Love,

  Lizzie

  She folded it and put it in a matching envelope. Listening at the door, she could hear no movement so she quietly unlocked her door and tip-toed down the carpeted hallway to Malcolm's room. Silently she opened the door and went in. She laid the letter on his suitcase and hurried out. Back in her room she called the local taxi company for a cab to the train station. If Liam was still around and heard the taxi arrive, she'd just tell him there was an emergency and she had to leave. She would give him no chance to question her further. Hurriedly she packed her bags. She went to the window at the end of the hall to watch for the taxi.

  "Yes! Here it comes!" she said out loud.

  "Here what comes?" Liam asked from behind her.

  Stunned, she slowly turned to face him. As she walked to her room to pick up her bags, she said, "I have to go, Liam. There's been an emergency and I have to get back home."

  "Emergency? What do you mean? I've not heard the phone ring," he asked bewilderedly.

  "It rang while you were in the garden..."

  She knew she shouldn't have said that. She walked passed him quickly, down the stairs, through the sitting room to the door. "Just a little farther," she assured herself as she heard the cabby blow his horn.

  "Wait, Lizzie. Talk to me. At least tell me what has happened, " Liam entreated, following her out the door.

  "No time. Good-bye, Liam."

  She threw her bags in the car, got in and said, "Train station, please."