Page 40 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
“Well? Where did ye lose them?”
“I didn’tlosethem. They are hiding.”
“Did ye play hide-and-seek with yer braither?” he asked. “Because ye are nae very good at it.”
“Actually, I wasverygood at finding Tommy because he always hid in the same places. Our house was quite a lot smaller than this castle, too.”
“Well, which door did they go through?”
“That one,” she said, pointing to the side where a heavy door led outward toward the lower halls.
She watched, fascinated, as that same little smile flirted at the corner of his lips. He smothered it quickly, clearing his throat.
“Aye, I have a feelin’ I ken where they’ve gone. Those girls could eat me out of house and home, and they’ll be aimin’ for the kitchen.”
“Won’t the cook be angry if they interfere with her kitchen? We were never permitted to go near ours. She was a gorgon.”
Callum scoffed. “Accordin’ to me housekeeper, they’ve had me cook wrapped around their little fingers since they were tiny. One of the first things she told me when I returned was that they were demons and stole every cake they could get their hands on.”
“When you returned from where?” Lydia asked eagerly, but his expression became closed off again.
“Come on. Are we lookin’ or talkin’?”
Lydia followed behind him, but his angry tone didn’t quite ring true today. It almost seemed to her as if he changed the growl in his voice to end conversations, rather than being truly angry.
His shoulders were relaxed, his stride languid as he made his way along the passage.
She felt a little thrill rush through her as she realized he was actively helping search for the girls rather than simply giving her a tour.
“The kitchen is up ahead of us, and this door leads to the main hall. The doors in this castle are a map. If ye see the dark wood with three bolts through the center, those are the passages to the main entrance halls. If ye ever need to get out of the castle, follow those bolts to the outside.”
And why would I need to escape the castle?
“This corridor leads to the kitchens, ye can tell with the copper brackets in the stone. Once ye’re out in the rear corridors behind, ye’ll find stairs to yer right and left. If ye are ever lost, they’ll lead ye back to yer bed chamber.”
He opened the door to the kitchen, and a flurry of noise and activity rushed out toward them.
Three or four women were working busily inside. One throwing a large circle of dough onto a wooden table and kneading it roughly with her hands.
One was cleaning, the other standing over a pot of boiling potatoes. An older woman with wiry, flyaway hair was decorating a beautiful fruit pie.
As Callum entered, she looked up at him, putting her hands on her hips and reminding Lydia of her mother.
“And what are ye doin’ disturbin’ me in me kitchen, M’Laird? I have had enough trouble with the little critters today.”
Before he could answer, a man carrying a large barrel of wine came through a side door without looking.
The gigantic barrel swung around alarmingly, about to hit Lydia full in the face, when she found herself lifted off her feet and deposited behind Callum as he stepped in front of her.
“Look where ye’re walkin’, man,” he snapped, as the man spun in place, almost toppling over in surprise.
Callum plucked the barrel from his hands effortlessly, holding it up until the man had righted himself, and then handing it back.
“Sorry, M’Laird,” he said, his eyes widening as he took in the scars on Callum’s face before he scurried away.
Lydia stepped around Callum, holding out her hand to the cook.
“I am Lydia Turner,” she said with a smile. “I have misplaced the girls and am looking for them.”
