Page 113 of The Highlander's Kilted Bride
“Happy hunting,” his brother replied.
By now, they could hear voices coming from the next corridor, which housed more bedrooms and the family apartments. Kade strode toward the central staircase, Angus scurrying along in his wake.
“Hold up, lad,” his grandfather said. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Kade slowed his pace. “Why don’t you go back to bed, Grandda? I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Och, I might as well see what all the fuss is about. Besides, ye’ll probably need my help when Elspeth and Kinloch start kickin’ up a fuss.”
“I suspect that kicking up a fuss is precisely the point of this musical escapade.”
Angus chuckled. “Aye. That lassie will keep ye on yer toes, I reckon.”
“No doubt.”
Kade took the stairs two at a time to the nursery floor, then waited for his grandfather.
“That way, I think,” Angus said, pointing off to the left.
A door opened and Tira appeared, neatly garbed in her nightgown and robe. “Are you trying to get to the roof, Uncle Kade? It’s this way, at the end of the hall.”
He and Angus reversed course.
“Thanks, lass,” Kade said. “Now, back to bed with you.”
“Miss Charlie is up to something, isn’t she?” Tira asked.
“Apparently.”
His niece gave a nod. “I think she’s pretending to be a ghost.”
“That’s seems a rather odd way to pass the time.”
“It’s kind of like that time Grandda played his bagpipes to try to scare Aunt Vicky away. Before she and Uncle Nick got married.”
“It almost worked, too,” Angus said with a grin.
Now servants were beginning to appear, their clothes obviously hastily thrown on.
“What’s going on, sir?” one of the maids asked in a nervous voice. “What’s that strange music?”
“I’m just on my way to find out,” Kade replied.
He found the narrow, winding staircase to the roof and started up. He’d almost reached the top landing when the music ceased, as if someone had dropped a curtain on the performance.
“Dammit,” he muttered.
He opened the door and strode onto the roof, wincing when a toe caught the edge of a rough piece of slate.
Laroch Manor was a sprawling edifice with some flat roofs but also several gables and a central tower. Right now, he and Angus stood over the north wing, which was separated from the rest of the house by the tower and a steep gable. He didn’t fancy breaking his neck trying to scale the blasted gable in the dark. Nor did it matter—his fiddle-playing nightingale had fled the scene, no doubt anticipating that he’d come looking for her.
Angus, who’d wandered over to the left, returned. “Must be another way off this bloody roof.”
“Several, I would think. But I expect she wasn’t on this part of the roof to begin with.”
“Closer to the family rooms, I reckon.”
Kade headed back to the door. “Might as well go down and see the resulting uproar.”
