Page 22 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
Then he looked out at the landscape below them, taking in the white blanket that covered the ground, and groaned. This was going to make his journey to Kirklieth doubly difficult.
“You will have to stay another night,” Kenna declared. “You will freeze to death if you go out in this. I can’t stress it enough, Ewan. Even to the next village, Kirklieth, it is eight miles, and I don’t think you will make it, even with your new clothes.”
“And if the snow is still there tomorrow? And the next day?” he pointed out. “No, Kenna. I must go today.”
As if to torture him into doing just that, an unwanted memory invaded his mind of the moments after Lachlan had died. He would never forget the look of disbelief on Douglas’s face as he looked down at the brother he adored lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs. He had looked up to Maxwell, who was standing at the top of the stairs, and his face became a mask of rage.
“You killed him!” he screamed. “You murdered my brother!”
“It was an accident!” Maxwell shouted back, but as Douglas came charging upstairs, he turned and fled, running as fast as he could through the guards and the guests and into the night.
He had been running ever since.
Now, remembering his friend, Maxwell felt as though his heart was breaking again. He and the twins had become notorious for their exploits among the fairer sex but on one terrible night, all that had ended. He had turned from a boy into a man. No, not a man.
A murderer.
I have to go,he thought desperately.
“Kenna, I have no choice.”
“What are you running away from?” Kenna was mystified.
She could see that he was terrified of something, but for the life of her, she could not figure out what.
“Even if you could leave, you would have to wait until nighttime, and then you would not be able to see. It would be suicide, Ewan. Neither could you sneak out during the day when there are so many people around. It is better if you wait ’til the snow has melted.”
At that moment, Maxwell’s stomach rumbled, and he flushed. He was ravenous, which was another reason he knew he would have to go—and soon.
Kenna felt wretched. The kitchen would be full of staff now, and it would look suspicious if she went scrounging for food. He would have to go hungry until she returned, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“I will try to bring you some food if I can,” she told him, looking at him with pity.
He is so beautiful,she thought.Why is he so sad?
“I have to go. Do what you must, but if you are caught, I will deny all responsibility for you. I will say I never met you.”
She was looking at him directly, and there was a challenge in her eyes.
Maxwell was not surprised or annoyed since he would have done the same thing himself.
“I understand,” he said softly. “Thank you for everything, Kenna.”
She opened the door and strode away, but she did not lock it.
10
Maxwell stared at the door for a moment, then realized that it was not locked. He twisted the handle and looked out into the passageway very carefully. It was not well lit, but he could still see, and there was no one there. He was so tempted to go outside, just for some fresh air, but could he risk it?
The weather was foul and becoming worse by the minute, so many people had to work inside who might have been outside. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of empty rooms that he could duck into if he wished. Invercree Castle had something like eighty rooms inside, and he knew his way around most of them quite well. He had spent many hours in this place talking, laughing, and making mischief with the McDonald twins. Then he smiled sadly. How he missed those days!
Dare he try to make his way outside? Since looking out of the window, he had a fair idea of where he was. Most servants’ quarters were downstairs at the same level as the kitchens, but in Invercree they were upstairs, for some reason best known to the castle’s builders.
He crept out of the room and made his way down the stairs, which had a doorway to every floor, then ended up just outside the kitchen. He could hear the sound of women’s voices chattering and laughing amongst themselves as they went about their work. One of them was Kenna’s, but he could not make out what she was saying.
Maxwell looked around, unsure of where to go. He did not wish to end up in the dungeon, so he avoided the other stairs that were leading down further underground. He slid along the wall and ended in a storage cupboard, where, to his delight, he found shelves full of cheese, dried and preserved fruit, and vegetables. He grabbed the cheese first and stuffed some in his mouth, then took a jar of preserved pears and a few strips of dried beef. After grabbing a handful of hazelnuts, he went to the door and carefully looked out again.
There was still no one about, so he slid sideways back the way he had come and crept into an alcove under another flight of stairs from where he could not be seen at all. There, he ate his fill and paused for a while, listening to the conversations of those who were passing him, hoping to gather some news or snippets of gossip about anything that would help him. Most people, however, were speaking about the weather, and he learned that the snow had not stopped falling, so it seemed that he was stuck where he was for the time being.
