Chapter Seventeen
As Andrew prepared to defend Beth, a plume of dust drifted out from the chapel, falling on the dead and wounded. The injured were being tended to by James but it was obvious some of them would never awaken. Would the bishop? Was there a curse on the MacIntyres? Was God himself trying to kill Andrew?
As he’d dragged the last of the victims out from under the fallen stone, he thought of Fenella. She had told him he should look up sometime. Was this what she was referring to? Should he have noticed the ceiling was about to collapse?
“Perhaps your master mason is not as good as she claims,” Duff said, taking a step toward Beth. “People are dead and dying lassie. Have you nothing to say for yourself?”
Andrew marched over, separating the two of them. “You will calm yourself MacLeish.”
“Calm myself? I was almost killed.”
“As were many of my people.”
Beth looked up at them both, her face pale. “The falsework,” she said. “It was the falsework.”
“What are you talking about?” Duff asked.
“The falsework. It was holding up the arches until the mortar set.” She was talking more to herself than to either of them. “It shouldn’t have been taken down yet. Someone must have removed it.”
“Explain yourself,” Duff said. “Before I take you into my custody.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Andrew said, his voice cold.
“Are you going to stop me?”
“I will do what it takes to protect her.”
“So you want a war over a woman do you?”
Beth stepped between them, turning to face Duff. “The falsework was holding up the stone until the mortar set. I said it was to stay up, that it wasn’t ready to come down yet but someone took it out. They must have known what would happen.”
“A likely story. You’re just trying to cover up your incompetence.”
“I’m telling you someone took it down.”
“And who would do that?”
A voice spoke from their left. “I know.”
The three of them looked that way. One of the kitchen girls was holding up her hand. “I was on my way to feed the chickens just before the bishop arrived.”
“And?” Duff snapped. “What did you see?”
“I saw Derek coming out of the church carrying the falsework.”
“Och, you’re a wee servant. How do you even know what falsework looks like?”
The girl stood taller, glancing from Duff to Beth, a shy smile on her face. “I’ve been watching her. I want to be a master mason when I grow up.”
“A kitchen girl becoming a master mason? Now I’ve heard everything.”
Beth smiled at the girl. “Are you sure you saw him?”
“He took it behind the chapel and then he came back out without it. I didnae know the mortar hadnae set. I thought Beth had told him to do it.”
“Well there’s one way to settle this,” Andrew said, setting off through the crowd of people. “Let’s go look.”
They walked behind the chapel together. Andrew kicked at the piled up rushes by the nave wall, revealing the falsework underneath.
