Page 74 of Laird of Flint
This, however, was intriguing. Furthermore, it sounded true. It made little sense for an esteemed warrior of Rivenloch to be sent to a sleepy monastery just to sample the life of a monk.
“What kind o’ thefts?” she asked.
“Big ones. Mon’st’ry treasure. A silv’r cross. A gold chal’ce. A jewel’d Bible.”
Then she straightened, realizing what he was saying. “Ye think someone from Dunlop took them?”
“Nay,” he said. Then he screwed up his forehead. “At leas’ I don’t think so.”
“Then why were ye here in the middle o’ the night?”
He yawned. The opium was making him drowsy. “I w’s followin’ someone.”
“Who?”
“I’m not sure. He left the mon’st’ry, so I followed him.”
“Ye thought it might be the thief?”
“Mm-hm.”
“And he came to Dunlop?”
He nodded. “But turned out ’twas a monk.”
“A monk? What was he doing, comin’ to Dunlop in the middle o’ the night?”
“That’s wh’t I wanted to know. Which ’s why I was followin’ him.”
“And?”
“When I saw ’twas a monk,” he mumbled, letting his eyes drift closed, “I figured someone needed…last rites or somethin’.”
That couldn’t be. No one had died at Dunlop in months.
“What happened then?” she asked.
His words were slurring badly now. “Y’ came out o’ the keep then. Took off ’cross the hills. So I thought…”
She could guess. “Ye thought the scruffy beggar was a more likely suspect.”
He nodded, sinking deeper into the pallet as his breathing slowed.
She watched him as he slipped away to the land of dreams, considering everything he had told her. Then an awful thought occurred to her.
“Ye don’tstillsuspect I’m the thief, do ye?”
But he was already asleep.
Chapter 14
Normally, All Saints Day meant that Carenza would spend several hours in the chapel, praying. Her father thought they should set a good example for the rest of the clan. Most of her devotions went to Gertrude, Cuthbert, and Modestos, the Saints who loved and protected animals.
But she was admittedly relieved when, shortly after dawn, the physician was called back to Kildunan and she had to take over Hew’s care again. It meant she’d have an excuse to avoid kneeling in the chapel all day. It also meant she could learn more about this secret mission of Hew’s.
As she strode along the corridor to where Hew was sleeping, she promised God she’d pray extra hard for the Saints on the next Sabbath.
The bells of terce tolled in the distance. She quietly entered the chamber, bearing a linen cloth stuffed with oatcakes.
