Page 34 of Highlander's Wild Lass
Jacob pulled it out and handed it to Celestia, who only looked at the nondescript book, face scrunched up in confusion.
“This is the… other customer list?”
“Aye, the one Queen Anne’s government doesnae ken about.” Jacob told her.
Celestia blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
“An illegal list of customers?” Chester wondered aloud.
Hugo catapulted himself back onto the counter. “Wonderful—here we are thinkin’ Da is an honorable gentleman, and he’s been bootleggin’ this whole time!”
Celestia shushed him, hoping the stern look came across on her face.
“Daenae talk of yer da like that. Ye should ask him about this yerselves, but after the 1688 rebellion saw King James exiled, a good deal of whisky merchants went underground,” Jacob explained, standing up.
Celestia chewed on her lip and laid the logbook on the counter beside Hugo. She peeled open the hardcover and began looking through her father’s underground customers. “This is mostly a list of brothels!”
“What?” Chester nearly shouted.
“Keep yer voices down!” Jacob warned. “There are excisemen all over this town waitin’ for a whisky merchant to slip up. The good thing about your da’s business is that most of the customers are above board, there are even some Englishmen that yer faither has made great connections with.”
“Even surgeons?” Celestia’s voice came out in a whisper.
“Aye,” Jacob told them. “They use it primarily for healin’, cleanin’ wounds and such.”
“There’s chiefs, lairds, and landowners on this too. Even the Armstrong and Bruce chiefs,” Hugo said, leaning into her, his dark blonde hair falling into his face as he pointed to the names.
The list was in alphabetical order, and Celestia wondered if Anthony Moore and Castle Ferguson were on this list too.
Chester scratched his forehead and leaned over the list. “This is extraordinary. Mr. Koll must ken this list exists or assumes it does. He wouldnae be so put out about the taxed ones, would he?”
Jacob shrugged. “Yer guess is as good as mine, but I keep this in here, locked up good and safe so nay one can get their hands on it.”
“Good,” Celestia said, shutting the book and handing it back to him. “Keep it shut up. I’ll be speakin’ to Da about this before we decide to continue business with them.”
7
“Did ye tell her that ye’re comin’ today?” Sebastian asked as he placed two large baskets of arrows into the small horse-drawn cart.
Anthony smirked as he gathered a few muskets in his hands. “I didnae.”
“Ye’re pushin’ it with her, ye ken. At this rate, I’ll be married before ye,” Sebastian said, plunking both his and Anthony’s ornately carved bows beside the arrows. “Do we really need the muskets? They are worthless on a hunt.”
Anthony laughed. “I never had any doubt that ye would be married before me. Yer much more… amenable.” Sebastian only scoffed. “And we do need the muskets, those two boys barely ken the barrel from the handle.”
Sebastian looked like he was about to argue with being called amenable but decided against it. “Ye have grown fond of the boys, then?”
He nodded. “I think so, they remind me a lot of us when we were young. Always causin’ trouble.”
Sebastian snorted, muttering, “Just like us.”
“Aye, if they move in, they may truly surpass us in our days of troublemakin’.”
“That might just finally do my auntie in.”
Anthony laughed as he lifted a small case of gunpowder into the cart. “I think today will go without issue. I daenae plan on goin’ toe-to-toe with Celestia today. My focus is those two boys.”
The hunt would be in a few days, just after the start of the Beltane festival. His aunts and uncles, sister and her husband, along with much of the village and clan would make their way to Castle Ferguson for the hunt, the feast, and the fires.
