Seducing the Laird (17 page)

Chapter 32

It was early morning before Verena could sneak away from Cairn’s bedchamber. He had been insatiable in his lovemaking, eager to make up for the days they were apart. He had not stopped until he probed each crevice of her body, making her scream as wave after wave of passion rolled over her. She felt limp and pleasantly sore, but she forced her limbs to move. She had
work
to do.

Leaving Cairn had been much harder than she expected. She was surprised by her desire to linger in his arms and wasn’t able to pull herself away until nearly dawn. Jon was curled up in front of the great hall’s dying fire with the castle hunting dogs. At first he appeared to be sleeping, but when she gently tapped him, he nearly took her hand off with a swipe of his knife.

"Jesu!" she whispered, jumping away.
"Tis I, Verena!"

"I’m sorry, V. That is the second time I attacked you. You must be getting soft."

Before he could blink, she pulled out her own knife and held it to his throat, knocking Jon’s small blade away. If he took more than a shallow breath, the sharp metal would pierce his throat, but instead of fear, Jon’s eyes danced with excitement. She saw his fingers twitch as he thought of a counterattack.

They often played this game under Hadran’s watchful eye. Ambushing each other kept their senses alert and the play gave a welcome release of tension. The competition took the edge off their constant training.

"Still think I am soft? I need your help. Come quickly."

A few minutes later, she pressed the stone in the Old Lord’s bedchamber, activating the secret passage. Jon swore in surprise as the door swung open.

"Lord! How did you find that?" he asked, taking the supplies she had collected earlier from Owen. Jon’s greedy little eyes scanned the room, searching for valuables to steal.

"It took an obscenely long time. Don’t touch anything. Cairn was recently searching for the treasure and would know if something was missing."

"Just my luck!"

Verena lit one of her expensive tapers. She definitely didn’t want to carry a smoky torch in this cramped space. She tucked her skirts into her girdle to keep them from dragging on the dusty floor and led the way into the passage.

"Must we walk so slowly?" Jon asked. "If I’m not back soon the kitchen brats will eat all the food."

"’Tis only a little farther."
She felt the path tilt upwards under her feet as they neared the end. She reached into her pack of supplies and handed him a chunk of bread and cheese. "Were you able to discover anything about Lady Ivone, Father Simon or Thomas?"

"Aye, a strange lot they are, to be sure! Father Simon is a dear. If you ask me, he couldn’t tell a lie to save his soul. He loves this clan and helped raise Cairn from a babe. If he knew about the treasure, he would have said something."

"As I thought.
Still, his position gives him a fair amount of autonomy. It was best to be sure."

"Ivone is a terror. At first I thought she was as simple as they come, empty-headed like some other ladies I’ve seen—no offense. Then she caught me snooping around her bedchamber. I told her I was fetching her used linens, but the way she looked at me, it was as if she could see into my soul. She is cold-hearted and ambitious like Gundy. I don’t trust her."

"Did you discover anything?" She decided to ignore his remark about empty-headed ladies.

"Nay.
The kitchen brats are afraid to go near her so I’ll have to watch Ivone myself."

"Be careful. Of all the McPhersons, she is the one to fear. She tries to appear less intelligent than she is, but I cannot fathom why."

"I know," replied Jon with a dramatic shiver. "That Thomas is definitely hiding something, too. I spent the afternoon chasing him through the forest."

"Did he see you?"

"Of course not!
At first I thought he was walking suspiciously, as if he knew he might be followed. He kept changing directions. But then I figured as old as he is, he probably couldn’t remember the way. I felt sure he was leading me to the treasure, but instead he took me to a large mud hill."

"The Old Lord’s burial mound."

"So the brats told me. Thomas brought a shovel and replaced the dirt that had been washed away by the rains. Do you think the treasure is buried there?"

"It is certainly a possibility, though it seems too obvious. Surely someone would have excavated the Old Lord’s grave by now."

"Maybe they are too afraid of his ghost."

"Perhaps.
Try to get some rest today. Tonight we’ll dig up the Old Lord’s grave."

"Have I told you how much I love this job?"

Verena
laughed,
glad to have Jon beside her. She often wondered how someone so young could handle the more gruesome parts of their assignments, but Jon approached each duty with courage and sarcastic wit. She didn’t know anything of his life before Hadran found him wandering the filthy London streets, but she was glad to have him in her group.

When she felt a twinge of guilt that he would never have a normal childhood, she reminded herself that her life had been no different. She didn’t know what ‘normal’ was, but the longer she stayed with the McPhersons, the more she was beginning to understand. Jon had already made himself the leader of the castle boys—much to Fergus’ chagrin. They would cheerfully devise ways of terrorizing the gruff soldier. When this was over she would try to find a place where he could forget about the pressures of duty and just enjoy being a child.

The large pile of stones suddenly came into view, blocking their way.

"I suppose this is what the shovels are for," said Jon, inspecting the obstruction. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to keep us from going any farther."

"I am sorry to disappoint them."

Verena grasped one small boulder and with a grunt, lifted it free of the pile. Working the rock free, she had to brace herself against the wall as she felt a wave of dizziness.

"Are you alright?"

"Just tired.
There will be plenty of time to rest when this is over."

For someone that was rarely ill, she couldn’t understand her body’s lethargy. She had worked through the night on much more strenuous assignments and her injured shoulder was nearly healed. Perhaps it was Cairn’s lovemaking that was making her so fatigued. She had gotten little sleep since coming to Scotland, but staying away from him was unthinkable.

"I can see!" Jon exclaimed, sticking his head through the hole their excavation had revealed.

"What do you see?"

"Another long passage."

Swearing indelicately, she continued her efforts. Despite his small size, Jon was a strong lad and cleared more than his share of the rubble. They worked together with silent efficiency for what seemed like hours, calling a halt when they could both squeeze through with ease.

"Did you expect this to be easy?" Jon teased, glimpsing her foul mood. She was exhausted and more than willing to continue their search another day. Verena was growing annoyed with this never-ending quest.

"You forget I have been searching for this infernal treasure since I came to Scotland."

"We can’t give up now. This is too exciting."

Jon gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze and ushered her though the passageway. After another long walk, they came to a heavy, wooden door. Verena placed her hands on the rusted, iron handle and pulled, but nothing happened. Thinking the door stuck, she pulled again.
Still nothing.
Jon added his strength, swearing furiously as he did so, but it was no use. The stubborn door was locked.

"This will only take a moment," he said, kneeling before the lock. "Could you hold the light?"

Verena did so, watching as Jon laid his lock picking tools on the ground with the care of a surgeon. She craned her neck to watch him work, comparing his technique to her own. Jon was absorbed in his task, using his instruments like an extension of his fingers. He was familiar with this style of lock and knew exactly where the tumblers were, but they were large and heavy. Jon’s tools were mostly for smaller locks found on jewelry boxes and chests. He twisted firmly, but gently, praying his tools wouldn’t bend or snap in the large keyhole. Finally, Jon grinned in satisfaction when he heard the faint click of the lock spring open.

The door was thick and heavy, with hinges nearly rusted solid. Verena liberally doused them with oil. They pulled with all of their strength and the door gave way grudgingly, an inch at a time.

They found themselves in a small, nearly empty room. A door lay opposite, but it was what lay in front of them that held her attention. A stone sarcophagus stood before them, its lid carved with the effigy of a man she recognized immediately.

"This is the mound," she said in puzzlement. "We are in the Old Lord’s burial mound."

"That is impossible! Have we walked that far?"

It certainly felt like it. Verena’s entire body ached with the strain of moving rocks, the long walk, and hours of energetic lovemaking. She suspected the large hill hid more than a body, but she didn’t expect to find a room this size.

"I don’t understand. Where is the treasure? Why would someone go to so much trouble for a dead body?"

The room was completely bare except for the sarcophagus in the center. The floor was made of hard, packed dirt that looked like it had been undisturbed for years.

"Perhaps it is beyond that door," Jon suggested.

This one was also locked and Jon knelt before it and went to work. When it finally opened yet another pile of stones lay in their path. Jon began to poke at them, but she pulled him away. It was the same pile of rocks Thomas had tried to conceal. He was not protecting the treasure; he was safeguarding the Old Lord’s body.

She turned to leave, grumpy at having so much of her day wasted on a fool’s errand, but something caught her attention. Kneeling beside the Old Lord’s stone coffin, she uncovered a small, shiny object glinting in the candlelight. She hooted in excitement as she recognized the tiny Roman coin.

"This wasn’t buried," she explained to Jon, who began digging the hard packed earth for treasure. "It was dropped. Someone moved the treasure and must have overlooked this coin."

"It was probably the same person that tried to barricade it," Jon surmised.

"We must discover who moved the treasure. Concentrate most of your efforts on Thomas, but do not overlook other likely suspects. We need to question all of the Old Lord’s surviving retainers to find out who may know something."

With the clan’s current difficulties, it was only a matter of time before someone searched the Old Lord’s grave. The treasure had to be moved to a safer location, but where? Verena had been inside Thomas’ tiny cottage and hadn’t noticed anything suspicious. Perhaps she needed to take a closer look.

Thomas should have come forward long ago if he knew about the treasure. The circumstances were certainly dire enough. Verena understood why he might have felt compelled to hide the silver from Ivone, but why continue to hide it from his lord?

•

"Where have you been?" Cairn demanded as she reentered the hall. She had washed off most of the filth from the Old Lord’s tunnel and hoped to rest before the midday meal. She was surprised to note that nearly half the day had been spent underground with Jon. "No one has seen you for hours."