AnchorandStorm (20 page)

“I shall be up in a few minutes, my dear,” Edgar said.

“All right.” She kissed him and left the room. Edgar looked up just in time to see Raymond’s nostrils flare and vowed his nephew’s visit was going to be a short one.

Caroline resumed where she left off in her discourse of her daughter’s birth and Edgar stifled a yawn.
Time to put an end to this
, but before he could say anything, the scream from the upper story stopped him.

He went to the foot of the stairs as quickly as he could and looked up. Emily leaned against the banister, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“He’s gone. Dair is gone!”

Edgar moved as quickly as he could to the stairs.

Raymond lagged slightly behind with Caroline. “What have you done?” he whispered.

“Nothing. I tried, but that little imbecile of a maid saw me.” By then, they had joined everyone else at the foot of the staircase.

Emily came down the stairs slowly, staring straight at Caroline. “What have ye done with him?
Where is he
?”

“Me? I’ve done nothing. Why do you accuse—”

“Because ye went up to get yer shawl, but ye’re not wearing it, are ye, Caroline? What have ye done with my son?” She reached out and grabbed the taller woman by her shoulders, preparing to shake the truth out of her.

By this time, Essie had joined Edgar and the Cavendishes at the staircase. “Oh dear God,” she said.

Emily turned to her. “What is it, Essie?”

“Oh my God, milady, I’m so sorry.”

Emily dropped her hands from Caroline’s shoulders and turned toward the cook. “For what, Essie, what’s wrong?”

“’Tis Fen. She ran outside a wee while ago and she had a bundle in her arms.”

“
What?
” Emily could not believe what she was hearing. “Fen loves Dair, she wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”

“I ken, milady, but—”

“Where would she go?” Edgar asked.

“I don’t know, sir. But she can’t have gone far and she wouldna go off the estate.”

“Hmph,” Raymond grunted, “well, that narrows it down to several hundred acres.”

Edgar ignored him and spoke again to Essie. “Find Angus and all the other men. They can search the grounds while you and Mrs. Lamond search the house and outbuildings.”

“Aye, sir, right away.”

Angus was riding toward the stable when Hamish stopped him and gave him the news. He felt as if his heart had fallen into his feet and his chest grew tight. When he got his breath back, he tied Tar to garden gate and organized the search.

They had covered the gardens, the henhouse, the smokehouse, any place they could think that Fen might be hiding. Hours had passed, but there was still no sign of the girl or the baby. It would be dark soon and he, like everyone else, was growing more frantic with each passing minute.

Angus had stopped in once to check on Em. She lay on her bed, her eyes red from crying. “Is anyone with you?” she asked.

“No. Edgar is in the library with
them
.”

She threw herself into his arms. “Oh Angus, what are we going to do?”

“We’ll find him, don’t worry.” He smoothed her hair away from her wet cheeks and rubbed her back.

“She wouldn’t hurt him, would she?”

“I’ve never known Fen to hurt a bug. She loves Dair, ye know that.”

“I know, but why would she take him?”

“She must have had her reasons. I’d best go and look around some more.”

Em nodded against his shoulder. He kissed her tenderly and left.

Now he stood in the lane surrounding the house and watched the sun sink below the faraway hills. Willie came up to him. “Are we going to stop for the night?”

“No,” Angus replied, “we can’t. Get lanterns from the coach house and give them to the men. I’ll get the ones from the stable. We have to find them.”

“I’m sorry, Angus,” Willie said.

He had been able to keep his emotions in check until that moment, but the boy’s words finally cracked Angus’ shell. In a tear-choked voice, he said, “Thank ye, lad,” patted Willie on the shoulder and almost ran to the stable.

As soon as he opened the door, Angus heard the baby crying. The sound came from the loft where he used to sleep. He took the stairs two at a time.

Fen walked in circles around the small room, the baby on her shoulder. She patted his back and crooned to him. “Dinna cry, baby, dinna cry. I’ll take ye back when those people leave.”

“Fen?” The girl startled and turned around. “What is going on, lass? Why did ye take Dair away?”

Her words came tumbling out so quickly, Angus had no idea what she was saying. He caught the words “tripped” and “killed”, but the rest was a jumble.

“Slow down,
nighean
, little one, ye’re not making any sense.”

“They mean to hurt Dair and milady like they did milord.”

“No one has hurt Lord Callander. He’s doing verra well.”

“No, no, the last time they were here. That mean man, he tripped milord.”

A chill ran down Angus’ spine. “Are you sayin’ that Lord Stockdale tripped Lord Callander on purpose?”

“Aye, I saw him do it, from the window in their room. And then I heard that nasty lady say, ‘She’ll get a surprise when she goes ridin’.’ Lady Callander is the only woman around here who rides. Mama is too fat and Mrs. Lamond never goes near the stables. That nasty woman was trying to get milady to go ridin’.”

“But Lady Callander
has
gone riding, many times, since they were here last and no harm came to her. Fen, are ye sure of what ye’re tellin’ me?”

“Aye, Angus, I am sure. I ken that I’m an ejit—”

“No, lassie, ye’re not an idiot. Ye’re only a wee bit slow to catch on to things.” He knew the girl was weak in her mind, but he also knew she would never lie. He gave her a hug and took the baby from her. “Let’s go back now. Dair is hungry and needs his mama.”

They made their way down the steps and began to walk through the stable, Angus holding the baby with one arm, his other one draped around Fen’s shoulders.

“I swear it, I know what I saw.”

“I believe ye, Fen, but milord is all better and milady hasn’t been hurt, so I dinna think there’s anything to worry about.”

Angus had listened to Fen’s story skeptically, but now his mind raced. He’d been thinking it strange that Lord Callander fell—he had been doing so well of late and he always took extra care on stairs. Then Angus remembered the morning he had seen Lady Stockdale in the stable. Why would she come there when she was so afraid of horses? She hadn’t done anything to harm them, he knew, because he checked them every day. What else could she have done?

The answer hit him like a fist to the gut. “Wait here,” he said to Fen, handing her the baby. He went to the tack room and examined Em’s saddle closely, but he could find nothing wrong with it. “Everything seems to be all right, Fen. I really don’t think milady is in any danger.” He let Fen continue to hold Dair, as the baby had settled and now sucked his fingers contentedly.

“Did I do right, Angus?” Fen asked as they started to walk back to the house.

“Aye, lass, ye did right. Thank ye for telling me.”

“I ken how much milady loves to ride her horse,” Fen continued, but Angus was only half listening to her. His mind still went over any possible danger to Em, but there didn’t seem to be any, the horses were fine, the saddle was undamaged. “Mr. Weston says ’tis sinful how milady rides like a man,” Fen continued, “but I think she’s—”

Angus stopped and grabbed Fen’s arm. “Wait. What did you just say?”

“Milady loves to ride her horse—”

“No, lass, after that.”

“She rides like a man, with her legs on each side.”

“That’s it!” Angus ran back into the tack room and checked the lady’s sidesaddle. It had not been used in years and was covered in dust, so he could clearly see the handprint on the seat, even though the print was now covered with a slightly thinner layer of dust. This saddle too appeared undamaged…until he examined the girth. The underside of the leather had been scored with a knife, so that the strain of galloping would cause it to tear apart.

This attempt on Em’s life had failed. Edgar had survived his fall. But what would they plan next?
And what had they planned to do to Dair?

He took the girth off and hurried from the stable. When he caught up with Fen, he hugged her again and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Thank you, Fen, ye might have just saved Lady Callander’s and Dair’s life.”

The girl’s face lit up and she squealed, “I did right!”

* * * * *

Emily was up and dressed and sitting by the fire, with Edgar in the chair across from her, when Angus returned. She had expected him to still be out looking for Dair and was surprised he had come back so soon. She was even more surprised when he ushered Fen into the room with him, the baby nestled in her arms.

Emily gave a startled cry. She jumped up and ran to Fen, almost snatching Dair from her arms. The infant began to fuss again. “Fen, why did ye do this? Ye know better than that. We trusted you—”

“Easy, Em, easy. The bairn is fine, she didna hurt him.” And before Em could say anything more, he asked, “Where are they?”

“Resting from their long journey,” Edgar said, the first words he’d spoken since they brought Dair back. “They must have driven all night, once they received the birth announcement.”

Angus noticed how drawn and tired the man looked. What they were about to tell him wouldn’t make him feel any better either.

Emily sat back down and put the baby to her breast. She looked from Fen to Angus and asked, “Why?”

“We’ve a tale to tell ye,” Angus said, “and ye won’t find it pleasant.”

“What is it?” Edgar asked.

Angus turned to Fen and cocked his head toward Emily and Edgar. “Go ahead, lass.”

Between the two of them, they told the story of what Fen had seen and heard. Even though Emily loved the girl and believed her smarter than most people gave her credit for, she still couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Edgar sat in silence, his face blank and unreadable.

When Fen had finished, Emily looked at her husband, then at Angus, he read the question in her eyes, asking him to confirm what she had just heard.

He nodded and held up the girth. “I found Lady Stockdale in the stable the morning after you fell, Edgar. This is what she was doing there.”

When Emily saw the cuts in the leather, she felt the blood in her face drain out. “Oh my dear God.”

The room was silent for a moment then Edgar said, “Thank you, Fen, for telling us this. You may go now.”

The girl turned to leave, but Em stopped her. “Fen? Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to scold ye that way. Th-thank you for taking care of Dair for us.”

She ran to Em and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry I broke my promise to ye, milady.”

“Oh Fen, dinna fash yersel’ about that. Ye did the right thing.”

The girl looked at Angus with a bright smile. “I did right,” she said and ran giggling from the room.

After Fen left the room, Emily rose and walked to the window. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass pane. “I knew they were greedy,” she said, “but I never suspected they were so impatient as to hasten Edgar’s death or plan mine or Dair’s.”

No one spoke for another few moments. Finally, Edgar said, “Angus, would you be so kind as to ride into Stirling and bring back the constable and his men?”

“Of course, but what are ye goin’ to do?”

“Have them arrested, of course.”