“Where is he now? Where did he go?”
“I dinnae ken. Please, get me some water. I beg you.”
“Come on,” Cam said, hauling the man to his feet. “Walk with us.”
The man shuffled, stumbling many times before they got him out into the courtyard. “Is my home safe?” he asked as they emerged into the night. “My wife? Is she alive?”
“Where do you live?”
“The farm’s the other side of Glen Currie Tower. Five miles north of here.”
“We’ll take you there.”
“Och, you’re good hearted people. Bless you both.”
“Do you ken what happened to the treasury?”
“Aye. He took it all. Said he was going to dump the lot in Glen Currie Tower while he sallies forth.”
“Then we must go there.”
“No,” the man said, grabbing Cam by the shoulders. “You must leave it be. Seek the treasure out and you’ll be slaughtered like all these people. He knows no mercy, none at all.”
“Let’s get you back to your wife, then we can talk about what to do next.” He turned to Rachel, mouthing the word, “necklace.”
She nodded in response.
They left the castle, the blind man leading the way. “I ken these roads well enough,” he said by way of explanation. “You should go back south. I can make my own way home. You’ve done enough.”
“We will get you home,” Cam replied. “It willnae take long.”
“Then what will you do?”
“That’s our business.”
“No offence, I’m sure. There should be a fork coming up. We need to go left.”
Rachel was glad to put the castle behind them. The place smelled of death and the aura stuck to her for a long time before gradually ebbing away. She couldn’t stop thinking about the bodies, about so many lives wiped out for no good reason, just because one greedy man wanted all of Scotland to himself.
The tower on top of Glen Currie was only visible when the moon emerged from behind clouds. The old man was for giving it a wide berth but Cam took them straight along the road toward it, ignoring his protests. “Wait here,” he said when they reached it. “I shall be but a moment.”
“Dinnae go in there,” the old man said. “Death awaits you if you do.”
“Och, dinnae talk soft,” Cam replied. “There is no one for miles around but us.”
He tried the door. It was unlocked. “Inside,” he said. “Where I can keep you both safe.”
The old man tried to protest but it fell on deaf ears. In the end he allowed himself to be guided into the tower and up a flight of spiral stairs, emerging into a small room crammed full of scrolls and bottles. Some were neatly aligned on shelves but others had fallen onto the floor.
“I see no treasure,” Cam said. “I think you were misled.”
“On the contrary,” the old man said. “I see all the treasures of the world right here.”
Rachel looked at him. He was standing taller, blinking as he opened his eyes to stare at them both. The wig slipped from his head, revealing a bald dome criss-crossed with scars. “I’ve waited a long time to see you again, Rachel.”
“What? Who are you?”
Cam had his sword drawn in under a second, swinging toward the man who neatly stepped behind Rachel. Cam only managed to divert the blow at the last second, almost catching Rachel on top of her head.
