Page 13 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
“Och. Och, awa’ wi’ the misters. Pleasure’s aw mine, I’m fair share.” He tipped his hat and was about to return to his work when Magnolia realized that this was only the third time in as many days she’d managed to get someone alone.
Yes, the ancient gardener was probably no war master, that much was clear, but Sandy had the full operation of the castle’s land. If there was plotting afoot, he’d know–or at least, he would be able to point her in the correct direction.
“Mr. Sandy,” she said, in as sweet and diplomatic a voice she could manage through her sudden excitement at possiblyfinallygetting somewhere. “May I ask you a question? I am still very new here, you understand, and I would very much like to get to know my new home.”
Sandy gave her a critical look from beneath his fluffy gray eyebrows then shrugged. “Aye, well, I’ll bae mare than happy tae let ye ken what I ken. I’m just a gard’ner though, mind ye.”
Perhaps it would be a little more challenging to extract information than she’d hoped. Sandy seemed lovely, but the friendlier he got, the less she could understand! Still, she pressed on.
Magnolia couldn’t know when she would get such an opportunity again. Elaine took up much more time than she had bargained for, and it had been three days with almost no information at all. “Well, I was just wondering. Does the Laird of the castle receive many visitors?”
He looked at her speculatively, and for a second, she was afraid she had been too direct. Then he grinned again and said, “Och, nay. Wee Laird Nathair’s no been the maist social a’ lads since ‘is bonny lass passed.”
Magnolia blinked, taking a second to estimate precisely what he’d said. “Laird Nathair…you mean Laird MacFoihl, yes?”
Sandy chuckled. “Och, och, yer a sharp yin. Aye, I mean that tae be fully share, but I’ve kenned the bairn since ‘e wis nae bigger than a mallard an’ made twice the racket.”
Magnolia took a moment, then slowly translated the old man’s extraordinarily heavy accent in her head.
I am fairly certain he just told me that Nathair has been unsocial since the death of his wife and that Sandy here has known the laird since he was a noisy child no bigger than a duck. What a strange and whimsical man!
She felt absurdly pleased with herself for working that out and smiled as she asked her next question. “I see. So, then, nobody visits?”
Sandy shrugged. “The only folk that visits thon castle noo-a-days are the ither clan chiefs, fir politics an’ the like.”
After another quick mental translation, Magnolia was filled with nervous anticipation. This was it! This was finally the break she’d been looking for! She eagerly asked, “You mean the other clan chiefs visit often? Tell me, do—”
She was interrupted, though, by a loudsplashand the high cry of a child screaming for help. Her stomach dropped, and ice seemed to fill her veins and freeze her brain as she quickly worked out what was going on.
The loch! Elaine! She rushed around the corner as fast as her skirts would allow with old Sandy limping behind her, and she was horrified by what she saw when they reached the water’s edge.
Elaine’s red hair was floating on the surface, then her little face splashed up, screaming a gurgling scream before she went under again, flailing her arms and legs wildly. She must have fallen directly into the point where the bed dropped, and though the child could swim, she was panicking.
She’s going to sink! She’s going to drown!
Sandy was staring with wide, frightened eyes. “Git the Laird!” he cried. “Git—”
“There’s no time!” Magnolia hollered. All questioning was forgotten as her ears were drowned by those terrible screams.
She tore at the lace of her bodice and heavy overskirt, allowing them to crumple to the ground as she kicked off her shoes too. She could faintly hear Sandy calling behind her, but whether he was talking to her or crying out for help, she didn’t know or even really care.
Then she sprinted to the water, sending a silent prayer of thanks to her late mother for teaching her to swim, and dived directly into the ice-cold water.
It was a shock to her system as it danced around her skin, though it felt more like kisses than bites as it nipped at her. The water was more transparent than any she’d ever swum in, and for a moment she was hypnotized as a small silver fish darted right by her open eyes.
Then Elaine screamed again, and Magnolia’s heart leaped. With powerful strokes, she cut through the water towards the sound as quickly as she could. Elaine’s bright red shoes kicked manically in front of her as the little girl lost the battle against shock, but as she got closer, they suddenly went limp.
No!
Magnolia kicked her legs harder and reached Elaine just as the child’s head began to submerge fully. She caught her in her arms, pulling them both above the surface and back swimming as quickly as she could to get to the edge.
The waterlogged child was heavier than Magnolia had expected, and Magnolia’s limbs ached with sheer exhaustion. Still, she swam on, determined they would both get to the shore alive. She would not give up now. She wouldnot!
Hang in there, Elaine. Hang in there, we’ll make it!
She’d never felt such respite as when her head bumped against something hard, and a pair of strong arms reached under her armpits and hoisted them both onto land.
Magnolia lay there, her eyes closed as she caught her breath, and she felt the weight of Elaine being lifted from her arms. Panic threatened to overtake her, but it quickly faded as she heard the child coughing.
