To her relief, Mrs. Darroch gave a quick curtsy and left without any further questions. ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave,’ she muttered to herself, quoting Sir Walter Scott. She stared out of the window as though watching might suddenly conjure her brother out of thin air. In truth he could be hours. She knew her sibling of old. This is exactly what he always did when a situation was beyond his control. Being forced to wait while others acted did not sit well with Peter, any more than it did their father.
She guessed that Peter had believed the steward would be in the house during his absence, while Gifford assumed the Viscount would be in residence. Jennifer grimaced.Men. Did they ever actuallytalkto each other?
When neither man had returned after an hour, she made a decision. She could not simply sit and twiddle her thumbs, hoping that Peter or Gifford would arrive back to save the day. She would have to take action herself.
Seating herself, she wrote a short note to her brother, then ringing the bell, asked for a horse to be brought round. Lastly, mindful of her earlier frustration, she called to Flossy and went in search of Felicity.
∞∞∞
Since Brendon and Malcolm had been up since midnight, they took it in turns to rest. Waiting was always the hardest part of any undertaking, and unless the Reverend and Dougal ran into any problems, there was nothing for either man to do until the guards had finally left the mine for the night. Fergus on the other hand seemed to have no problem with inactivity and spent most of the morning dozing happily in the watery sunlight.
At midday, they nibbled on strips of dried beef and discussed their forthcoming strategy.
‘We hae tae assume at least one guard will remain after th’others leave,’ Brendon mooted. ‘Finn said he heard the man snoring so likely he’ll hae a bed o’ sorts in one o’ the old bothies close tae the mine entrance. He’ll nae want tae be abroad when the midges come oot.’
‘We’ll have to wait until the bloody beasties are gone for the night too,’ Malcolm retorted. ‘We’ll nae get the bairns movin’ if they be covered in bites.’ He rolled out their map and laid it between them both. ‘If we come in through here,’ he suggested, pointing to a gap in the copse of trees that kept prying eyes from easily observing the mine, ‘and keep tae the Lochside, we’ll nae be easily spotted if there’s an additional guard.’
Brendon nodded. ‘Ah doot the MacFarlane will bother wi more an one though. He’ll be thinkin’ the bairns are safe enough locked up – an’ we dinnae think he kens he’s missin’ one.’
‘But the guard Finn described surely knows?’
‘Aye and ye can bet he’ll nae hae told the Chieftain. The MacFarlane uses his sword first an’ his mouth after.’
It was Malcolm’s turn to nod. ‘So, we hope for one but keep an eye out for more.’
‘What dae we dae wi’ the guards once we have the key tae the mine? Dae we finish ‘em?’ Brendon asked matter-of-factly.
‘Will it provoke a retaliation?’
Brendon shrugged. ‘Who knows what the MacFarlane’ll dae. But ah reckon we cannae worry aboot that. We do whatever we need tae. Better them deid than us.’
‘Aye,’ Malcolm agreed simply. ‘And if the eejit watching over Inveruglas is daft enough to be there come sundown, we’ll deal wi’ him first.’ He paused, then added, ‘Once we’ve freed the youngsters, we’ll need tae get ‘em back to Caerlaverock as quickly as possible.’
‘We could hae daen wi’ Dougal’s horse an’ cart - the poor wee bairns are nae gaunnae want tae walk.’ Brendon shook his head and sighed. ‘Ah confess ah was hopin’ the lazy ne'er-dae-weels’d leave the wagon thinkin’ tae use it tae bring back the treasure…’ he paused and chuckled. ‘Truly, the MacFarlane be a bloody bampot.’
‘Aye,’ Malcolm conceded, ‘But a dangerous one.’ He shook his head. ‘Ye be right though, it’ll be a long walk fer wee feet back tae Caerlaverock. We’ll need tae stay off the Lochside.’
‘If all gaes accordin’ tae plan, they’ll nae be missin the bairns until the morra,’ Brendon mused. ‘Once they’ve giein the signal,the Reverend an’ ma da’ll use the boat ah hid tae get off Inveruglas.
‘What dae ye say tae takin’ the MacFarlane’s boat and splittin’ the bairns between the twa. We could row back to Caerlaverock wi’ naebody the wiser til’ the morn.’
Malcolm gave a slow grin and nodded. ‘We should be able tae reach safety long before the MacFarlane discovers the bairns are gone.’ Then looking over at the wolfhound curled up in the grass, his smile faded. ‘What about Fergus?’ he asked.
‘Och, the hound could find his way back home blindfold. He’ll follow the boats an’ keep an eye oot fer any trouble.’
∞∞∞
Predicably Felicity hadn’t been happy with Jennifer’s proposal at all. ‘What on earth will your mother say when she learns I allowed you to go off alone?’ the matron declared.
‘Well, I’m all ears if you have a better idea,’ Jennifer responded tartly. ‘There’s no time to send a note to Chapman and his men, who are even now I suspect enjoying all the delights that Banalan has to offer. How long do you think it would take to round them up? And we both know that Peter has purposefully kept them out of what is an extremely volatile situation.
Felicity opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again with a sigh. ‘Can you at least wait another hour? Likely Peter will have returned by then.’
‘Murray left nearly two hours ago,’ Jennifer protested. ‘However, he’s on foot. If I leave now, I’ll reach Malcolm and Brendon before the traitor has a chance to tell MacFarlane what he knows. Hopefully, they’ll be able to stop him.’
‘How?’ Felicity questioned sharply.
‘I can’t think about that,’ Jennifer retorted, ‘but if I don’t try, then Malcolm, Brendon, my grandfather and Dougal will almost certainly be captured at the very least. All four are trespassing on MacFarlane land, and even I know that up here, no one will take the blackguard to task if he strings them up.’ She paused, feeling sudden tears well up. ‘I’ve written Peter a note. As soon as my brother and Gifford return, you can be certain they will come after me.’
