“Where are you off to?” Jenna asked, as she and Sophia expertly worked with the dough.
“We’re heading back to the orchard.”
“Do ye think that’s safe now? I wouldnae want any harm to come to ye.” Mary appeared concerned at his announcement.
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, Mary. I’ll be very careful.” He reassured her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder. “I’ll see you all later on.”
Dylan couldn’t help but laugh as he walked from the kitchen and overheard Mary speaking to Jenna and Sophia. “He’s ahandsome one, isnae he?” Mary, who was old enough to be his mother, apparently had a crush on him.
***
The courtyard was quiet this morning. Everyone had been up until the wee hours last night and they were probably catching up on some much-needed rest. Maggie stood waiting for Dylan to arrive, holding the horses that had been delivered by the stable boys a few moments before. She wasn’t sure it was a good idea to do this, but she wanted to spend time with Dylan, even if she had to pretend to be someone else in order to do it.
“Alec,” Dylan called.
Maggie watched as he strode towards her with a sack of food thrown over his shoulder. He couldn’t look any better to her if he tried. She masked her obvious admiration by looking down at her feet. This was going to be a challenge. She hoped she didn’t slip up.
“I’ve got some food, Mary packed plenty for both of us. I know you said you were hungry, so grab something and we’ll get started.” He held out the sack to Maggie and she reached in and took a bannock and a piece of fruit. She had been so preoccupied with Dylan that she didn’t even look to see what she had picked, but saw now that it was a beautiful pear. Maggie placed the food in her pocket while she mounted her horse and watched as Dylan mounted his. Retrieving the pear, she bit into it and turned her horse towards the gate with Dylan following close behind. They were just about to pass through, when she heard Brielle calling out to Dylan. The sound of her voice resembled the sound of chalk on a blackboard, and it had the same effect on Maggie.
“Dylan, where are ye off to?” Brielle asked. She was mounted on her own horse and trotted up to them.
“We thought we’d head back out to the apple orchard and take a look around,” Dylan answered. “I want to see if we can come up with any explanation for that sudden storm yesterday afternoon.”
“Do ye mind if I join ye?” Brielle smiled sweetly at him.
“No. Not at all.” Dylan replied.
“What about you, Alec, do ye mind?” Brielle was playing with her as far as Maggie could tell and she had all she could do to keep her voice under control, so she simply shook her head. “Good, I wouldnae want to interfere with yer outing,” Brielle added.
Maggie was irritated beyond belief with Brielle, who had obviously intended to be coming with them, no matter what Dylan or she might have to say about it. She nudged her horse forward and rode in front of Dylan and Brielle, who rode side-by-side as they headed for the orchard.I wonder what she’s up to this time. It can’t be anything good!
***
“What made you decide to go riding this morning, Maggie?” Dylan was not happy to see her, but he hoped she didn’t notice. He had wanted to examine the orchard with Alec alone. There was something strange about the whole situation and the thought had popped into his head that maybe Maggie had more to do with it than it appeared. But why would she do it? It didn’t make any sense, and then there was the fact that she had stopped it. His hopes of getting answers, without her hovering around, had been dashed.
Maggie slowed her horse and they both fell back a good distance from Alec. “I was worried fer ye, Dylan,” Maggie said quietly. “I believe yer little friend, Alec, may have been theone who caused the lightning strikes yesterday.” She turned her sweet face to his.
“Alec? Why would he do something like that?” Dylan was baffled by her accusation. Alec was a young lad, sent by Edna to Breaghacraig along with Angus. What possible reason could he have to do something like that?
“I dinnae ken why, but just before the lightning struck for the first time, I was watching him. He stared into the sky, as if he was calling down the fiery bolts, and then once they began to rain down on us all, he stood there, smiling an evil smile.” Rather than sounding concerned about what had happened, she seemed pleased with her recounting.
Dylan gave it some thought and while he didn’t necessarily believe Maggie, he felt the need to watch his back on two fronts today. Could he trust either one of them?
“I believe Alec is a witch, Dylan, and I think she’s a young woman—not a young lad as she would have everyone believe.” Brielle sat atop her horse with a smug smile on her face. “She must have fooled my aunt and uncle into allowing her to come to Breaghacraig.”
“I’m not sure what to think about that possibility.” Could Alec conceivably be a woman? Admittedly, he was very slight of build and didn’t have a lot of strength in his arms or shoulders—that much had been obvious when they’d sparred together a few days ago. Dylan ran everything through his head and had to admit, he was having a hard time believing what he’d just heard. He focused on Alec riding ahead of them and scrutinized the young lad very carefully.Could he be a woman?Anything was possible, he supposed. It was one more thing he would need to investigate. He had to get to the bottom of this. “Come on. Let’s catch up with Alec.”
He spurred his horse forward and Maggie followed along. They reached Alec as he was about to enter the orchard, wherethe damage was unbelievable. They had been in such a hurry to get away yesterday, that Dylan hadn’t really taken notice of the destruction. More than half the trees in this particular orchard had been destroyed. Whole limbs, bits of tree bark, and broken branches were strewn everywhere. There was an eerie silence about the place as they dismounted and walked through the orchard. Dylan took note of each tree, examining the trunks for any sign that what had happened had not been a natural occurrence. Nothing was obvious to him. Alec and Maggie were conducting their own inspection, or at least he hoped they were. They all searched and searched, and yet there was nothing to suggest this was witchcraft and not merely a freak, natural occurrence.
They met in the middle of the orchard. While Alec appeared disappointed, Dylan noted that Maggie didn’t look fazed in the least.
“Alec, would ye mind waiting fer us over by the horses?” Maggie asked.
Alec didn’t respond, but his eyes flashed angrily at her and then Dylan before he turned to stomp away.
“Thank ye, yer a dear,” Maggie called out to Alec’s departing back.
“What was that all about?” Dylan wanted to know.
