Page 37 of The Iron Highlander
“Nae, the wee lassie was only here when ye and yer sisters came by to see the Lady. I havenae seen her since. What is the matter?”
“I cannae find her!” Kate replied, barely finishing the sentence before she left the tent and headed for the next one a few feet away.
She parted the drapes, and did not find Lily in any of them. Her heart sank as she got the same response from the last one. She turned around and stared back at the smoking castle. It made nosense that she would be in there. Why would she go back in? But it was the only option left. Kate knew that no one would let her go in, not with all of the smoke rising, but then she had to try. She could not lose Lily; she could not bear the thought of losing another member of her family.
Kate rushed past Hudson who was briefing Reuben, and before they could react, she was in the castle, running through it. While the fires were put out, there was still a lot of smoke inside of the building, with a few things still smoldering inside of it. Kate rushed to their room, knowing that if Lily had gone back in for any reason, it would be to get something which they had left behind.
She reached the door and found that it had been left open, and looked in. It was empty. Kate coughed as she tried to think, standing in place and inhaling the smoke as she tried to figure out where the next possible place her sister could have gone. The garden? No, that was outside. Where could she be? Kate took a step backwards, looking to go through the rooms one at a time, if that was what it took, she would do that until she found her sister.
But the plan had a single flaw. She could not take much more of the smoke. Kate turned and decided to head back outside, take in some fresh air and then get back in. But just as she got to the stairs, she felt the wood crumble underfoot, and she fell straight down, underneath the stairs. Kate reached out with a hand, looking to grab a ledge and pull herself out of the broken splinters of warm wood, but as she grabbed it, she pulled away quickly, realizing just how hot the wooden board was.
“Lily!” Kate yelled, realizing that she was stuck. She whimpered and then coughed, realizing that the smoke was getting into her lungs, making it harder for her to breathe. “Lily…”
Kate watched as a figure ran into the building from a distance. The figure headed straight for her, just as she felt her body begin to succumb to the lack of air. She felt her eyes begin to shut, and suddenly she was lifted out of the hole in the ground, and soon felt the cold wind and fresh air in her lungs. She coughed a little and looked up to see who was carrying her out of the building.
Reuben looked down at her with sadness in his eyes. Once he was far away enough, he put her on the ground, checking her body for injuries. Kate moved away, knowing she was fine, but Reuben did not stop.
“I’m fine, Reuben.”
“Nae, I’d say yer crazy! Why would ye rush back in there?”
“Lily! We have to find her.”
“Lily isnae in there, Kate. Ye went in alone, do ye want to die? Ye think that is how this works? We get it, ye care about yer sister, we all do. But if ye go on ahead and kill yerself while trying to find her, then ye damn everyone else who cares about ye, and that is not fair at all!” Reuben yelled, running his darkened fingers through his hair. He turned around and waved back at Hilda to come over.
“I’m fine, Hilda, stay with Grear.” Kate turned back to Reuben and the others. “Did ye find her?”
Hudson shook his head, “Nae, she didnae go back into the castle either, I’m sure of it. We would have seen her as she went in, and even now, if she was in, she wouldnae have gotten far from the entrance before the smoke took her down. She’s nae here.”
“Then where is she? Where is my sister?” Kate cried out, looking around as Willow and Freya grabbed her shoulders, holding her tightly. “Where is Lily?”
“I need ye to sit, Kate, sit for a moment,” said Reuben, “Hudson, I need ye to listen too.”
“What is it?” Kate asked, looking at the face of the Laird. He knew something which he was about to share, and Kate was not sure what it was, but if it was bad news concerning Lily, she was not sure she would be able to stomach that. She needed to hear something good, something that would help and reassure her that her sister was fine. “Reuben, what is it?”
“When the fire started, in the kitchen, I saw something.”
“What did ye see?” Hudson asked, staring at him.
“The back window in the kitchen had been broken off. At the time, I didnae think anything about it, but now that I think about it, it turns out that it seemed as though someone broke iton purpose, someone who was waiting for the right time to start this fire.”
Hudson turned to Kate, and then back to Reuben, his eyes blinking in disbelief. “What are ye saying Reuben?”
“Think about it, the fire just happens to start the moment the servants leave to go find water, and there isnae a single drop of water in the building. The window is broken off? It is too much of a coincidence,” said Reuben.
“Hudson, ask all of the servants about the window. If they know anything about it.” Kate asked, “Please.”
“All right,” said Hudson, walking off instantly.
“What if he gets a bad response, so that means someone set the fire on purpose, aye?” Willow added nervously.
“Exactly, and we need to know exactly who it is that did this horrible thing.” Reuben replied.
Kate looked at them for a moment, and then turned to see Hudson as he walked back to them. The look on his face told her what she needed to know. The servants did not know about the window. He sat back with them, and narrated how one of the servants made sure she shut the window before they left, just in case it rained, and the water would not come through and wet the flour which they had left out for the morning’s meals.
“If that’s the case, then it is certain. We have been attacked by someone, and they tried to kill all of us here. We must retaliate equally, and make sure they face the consequences of their actions.”
Kate got up, “This is the second time we are being attacked like this, and now, they come here to the house where we were supposed to be safe. It is obvious what is happening here, my uncle, Max Sweeney has come to make things hard for me, this is all his doing. The attack in the woods, and now this? My uncle is a fiendish man who will not stop till he gets what he wants. Nothing can stop him, and he will kill anyone who gets in his way.”
