Page 22 of It Happened in the Highlands
Chapter 8
As Jo watched Wynne descend the stairs, she struggled to reconcile her troubled thoughts with a long-forgotten flutter in her heart. Her worry about the son battled with the fever she felt in the presence of the father.
Cuffe was responsible for what had happened in the ward, and she already regretted holding back the truth from Wynne.
She was a stranger in this place, she chided herself inwardly. She was certainly no parent. She was in no way qualified to hide what she knew and chance a greater disaster in the future. What did she really know about the unruly ways of a ten-year-old boy? Very little. What shedidknow was she’d allowed herself to be influenced by downcast eyes and a panicky and remorseful tone.
She knew what needed to be done, and she hurried down the hallway and rapped on a door. The footman who’d brought them up when they decided to stay, told her these rooms were occupied by the captain and his son.
No one answered, but she wasn’t deterred. She knocked harder.
“Cuffe. Come to the door this instant.”
Her friend Violet Truscott and the women who worked together in running the Tower House told her she had an excellent angry mother’s voice when she chose to use it.
“Open this doornow!”
Dark eyes appeared as the door opened a little. A shock of hair hung over his face.
“You didn’t give me up to him,” Cuffe said.
The tremble in his voice made her want to pull the child into her arms, but she held back.
“A man could have died down there,” she said sternly, pushing the door open. “Mr. Barton was in no position to defend himself. Is that what you were after? Did you go down there to kill him?”
Cuffe stabbed at tears that sprang onto his cheeks. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t know that would happen. He told me it was a lark, to rile up the fellows who watch the ward at night. And he gave me this to do it. But I don’t want it.”
Jo stared at the coins in the boy’s open hand. “Someone paid you to do this?”
Cuffe nodded.
“And he told you to put the tam on Mr. Barton’s bed?”
He nodded again.
“The man who put you up to this is evil,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “This was no lark. He wanted to hurt people and heusedyou. He didn’t succeed. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try again.”
This was more dire than what she first assumed. Jo deeply regretted not having Wynne there. It was important for Cuffe to go to him and tell him.
“This evil man could use someone else. Or even do it himself. We need to stop him,” she told him in what she hoped was a stern tone. She needed to make him understand and do the right thing. “Youhave to stop him. You must go to your father and tell him who was behind this.”
He shook his head. “I’ll tell you his name, and you tell the captain.”
“No,” she replied firmly. “You did wrong, Cuffe. You put those men downstairs at risk. It’syourresponsibility to tell the truth.”
He stood perfectly still for a long moment, staring at the floor before he finally spoke. “I don’t talk to him.”
Jo recalled the frustration Wynne expressed about his son. Whatever reason existed in Cuffe’s head to make him want to punish his father, it was none of her business.
“I didn’t give you up to him because I believed you would do right . . . on your own,” she said. “You’re not a child. You’re a young man. I barely know you, but I see an intelligent, strong, and independent lad. And I think you already know this is the time to put aside your obstinacy and act as you should.”
“The captain will be angry,” he whispered.
“That’s his right and his duty as your father. A man was hurt tonight,” she reminded him. “A disaster will happen if you do nothing.”
She dropped her hand from Cuffe’s shoulder and looked directly into his eyes.
“You need to decide whether you follow the path that is right or wrong. But I trust that you know which one to take.”
