Page 72 of The Anguish of the Scottish Lairds
“Aye, so they said,” Sloan replied. “Why?”
“Ramsay and I are looking for the man who killed Magni’s parents.”
“Ifhe killed them. You heard about my parents, did you not? They told me they killed them, but in truth, my mother and father were stolen to take care of the bairns. Every time my sire tried to escape, they would make him watch as they beat my mother.”
Connor said, “Sounds like the man we’re looking for. If we find him, he’s mine. And I want him alive. He’s tortured this isle for long enough.”
“He’s yours.”
“And those three all escaped? Did anyone see any of them go over into the water?”
Eva whispered. “O survived. And I know D is still alive. I heard him when he made it to the big boat.”
Sloan said, “He’ll not be alive for long.” He kissed her neck and helped her up. “Come, we need to eat something before we go.”
Eva said, “And I need to find a couple more axes to bring with me.”
Connor smiled and said, “So O is for Odart. K is in charge. D is the man you’re after. What’s it stand for, Rankin?”
Sloan drawled, “D forDead man.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Eva
Eva was ready to go, hoping they’d soon have the opportunity to put this all behind them. The bairns had come through it as if it were nothing, though Connor had gone directly up to Tora and asked, “Are you going anywhere soon, lassie?”
Tora had given her grandsire a hug and said, “Nay, I staying here to play. We go home on the mowwow.”
Connor had looked at his daughter and rolled his eyes. “I’ll just ask her from now on. She tells all.”
Dyna had smiled and kissed her father’s cheek. “Staying put for one day, Da.”
At the last minute, just before they were to head out the door, Tora had run over to Sloan, lifted her arms so he would pick her up, then whispered something in his ear.
Eva asked him what she said, but he’d replied, “Naught that I understood. Something about an apple orchard.”
Then the wee lass had shoved away from his chest to be let down before running off to play with the others.
Thus, the group consisted of Sloan and Eva, Thane, Connor, Alasdair, Alaric, and Eli.
As they approached the isle, Alasdair asked, “How many buildings should we search? Or is any building more likely to hold the scavengers?”
Thane said, “We’re headed to the village of Arinagour. That’s where we’re going ashore. It has several merchant buildings because the ferry boats land here. There is a castle on the southern end on a loch, but we’re not going that far. It’s MacClane land and no help to us. We’ll go to the market, and I’ll be direct and ask for Odart. Bastard should be well known by now.”
Eva huddled close to Sloan, the breeze cool. “Do you think we’ll find them?” she whispered.
“I do. Where else would they be? I bet they are all discussing the creature from the sea at the moment. I don’t understand any of it, so I’m not mentioning it to anyone.”
“What about my brother? Would Lennox believe us?” Eva asked.
“Nay,” Sloan said. “I wouldn’t believe it if anyone told me.”
“You don’t believe in seers, so that’s not a surprise,” she drawled. “Have you changed your mind about Dyna and Tora yet?”
“I almost did when we were told that Dyna could see us in the separate boats, but anyone with good vision could have guessed that. I’m not convinced yet, but …”
“There’s doubt, isn’t there?” Eva squeezed his arm and smiled.
