Page 59 of The Anguish of the Scottish Lairds
Thane followed his gaze, but didn’t see anything either. “True, but I don’t see him harboring bairns. He hires some guards that are questionable, and has fired some because of that, but you can’t hide bairns. Grant is still at the breast. He won’t be quiet because some bastard tells him to.” Thane looked to the others for confirmation.
“My son can be quite loud when he’s hungry. Probably why they are keeping them in such an isolated place like this. Maeve said Ulva, so they have to be here.” Maitland did his best to convince everyone. “I’m thinking back on what Sylvi said. I didn’t look that closely, Thane, but the view of the trip to Coll is right in front of your castle, aye?”
“Aye,” Thane said.
Sloan added, “Or from my land. If we miss it, Lennox will see them. I fear they are not here. Just another odd inkling.”
“It’s possible they didn’t make it this far. There is a fine area of beaches on the far coastline, but no inhabitants that I’m aware of. All forests. If we don’t find them here, then we man the boats on the morrow looking for any activity on Loch Tuath or near Coll. I’m telling you, Maitland, what Sylvi said was the best advice. They’ll be waiting directly in front of my land to meet the larger boat. If they are there at low tide, we could walk halfway out to them, and I have four boats total, enough to hold us all.We’ll get them soon enough.” Thane looked confident and Sloan had to agree with his reasoning.
“Does Coll have more inhabitants?” Connor asked.
“Aye, one castle that I know of and several cottages in the village near the port and probably more on the far side. It’s larger than Ulva.”
They approached Ulva, so Sloan and Thane hopped out to pull the boats onto shore. Thane pointed to a path up to the buildings.
***
Two hours later, the group stood on the beach in front of MacQuarie Castle, discussing their alternatives. Alasdair and Broc joined them. Thane said, “Most everyone is down for the night. We’ve only got a few hours left. Why don’t we all go in for some sleep?”
Maitland said, “I’ll never be able to sleep with my wife and son missing.”
Dyna shook her head, leaning against her sire, his arm around her shoulders. “Me either. What do we do now?”
They’d searched every building on Ulva and found them all deserted. A couple structures held evidence of recent activity—dust missing on a hearth mantle, footprints in sand—but they found no evidence of any person still there.
Dyna had searched for raggies outside every structure. Not a bairn or raggie in sight. “Gwyneth told me that. Look for smelly raggies tossed out the door. That’s how they found Gracie and Ashlyn. But there were none,” Dyna said. “I looked everywhere.”
Alasdair said, “You all have to get something to eat, or you’ll be of no help on the morrow when the boats are out there. Some of us could be swimming and that takes a strength you may not have without food or sleep. You’ll not do it without some food in your belly. Come inside and find a bite and an ale. Mora left bread and meat pies out. We all heard what Sylvi said. I’mconfident in our team waiting for the boats on the morrow, but I need you all strong enough to help.”
Connor said, “Alasdair is right. I’ve got to eat something, Dyna. And I need a couple of hours of sleep.”
The group agreed, so Thane led them all inside. Sloan held up the end of the line, still looking around for anything. At the last minute he heard a dog’s whimper. He said to Alasdair, “I’ll be right in. Going to relieve myself.”
He followed the sound, surprised to see it was Shadow, Eva’s dog. And he was doing his best to tell him something. “All right. I’ll follow.”
Shadow led him back to the spot across from Ulva where all the fishing boats sat. The closer they got, the more the dog whimpered.
Sloan sighed and said, “She went on her own, didn’t she? All right. Get in the boat. I’m going to borrow this one and take you across. We’ll find out where she is.”
The dog’s whimpering was like a fist to his gut. Sure, Eva had gone inside, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t snuck out on her own. Or that she woke up an hour later and took her leave.
Eva must be missing, or Shadow wouldn’t be acting the way he was. Where the hell could she be when they had just come from Ulva and found the isle deserted? And they hadn’t passed her along the way anywhere.
The dog’s tail wagged as they crossed, so Sloan was convinced he was headed in the right direction. Once he landed the boat, the wolfhound leapt off and began sniffing all around until he found her scent. Sure enough, the beast stopped and turned to look at him as if to ask him what was taking him so long.
The hound was off, following the scent to the middle of the small isle where they’d just been. They passed a set of trees, Sloan’s focus on the dog, but that was his mistake.
Someone brought a boulder down on Sloan’s head and the world turned black.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Eva
The door opened and two men carried a man inside, the chamber so dark that Eva had no idea who it was. But she recognized one of the villains as her abductor just by his odor. Fortunately, he ignored her this time.
Their captive’s hands and feet were bound, so they dropped him on the floor and left, locking the door on their way out.
Sloan!
