“Well, tell me what you saw,” Tobias said, ignoring Fergus’s scowl. Bryce explained how Lorna was the one to spot the body, and the surprised look in Fergus’s eye didn’t go unnoticed.
“I thought ye were tae leave, lad, nae wander about with me daughter,” Fergus said firmly. It wasn’t unkindly said, but Bryce could understand that the man didn’t like the thought of his daughter being alone with a man, even if they were not strangers.
“Aye, but I thought it best tae accompany Lorna as she was going walking. I am glad I did, now that I can be here for assistance,” he nodded, hoping to convince Fergus that nothing untoward had happened.
Nae for lack of trying, though.
“And you found nothing else with the body?” Tobias asked, ignoring Fergus’s obvious frustration.
Bryce shook his head. “Nae, naething else. I had a look around, but I couldnae see anything. But as ye ken, the storm was brutal last night. There might have been something, even something on her body or in her clothes that could help ye but looking at the river I’d say it was rushing ten times fast than it usually does last night.”
“Aye. True enough.” Tobias frowned, turning to look back at the body.
“I donnae understand it,” Fergus said, looking down at Mrs. Creech and shaking his head. “She was a good woman and the best midwife for miles around. She came tae deliver me Lorna. I donnae ken why someone would want tae kill her.”
“So that is what ye think, then?” Bryce asked Tobias. “Murder?”
“Aye, we were just discussing it before you came in. There is a stab wound in her heart. Hard to see since all the blood was washed away, and her clothes were so thick with water, but it is there.”
“I am sorry tae hear it,” Bryce said truthfully. He eyed the dead woman and felt a wave of pity for her, but he had seen it so many times. People killed innocently and sometimes for no real reason at all. The world was a cruel and hard place.
“Will you have Lorna come down and speak to me?” Tobias asked, looking between Bryce and Fergus.
Fergus cut in. “Me daughter has had a great scare, and I shouldnae like her tae be disturbed.”
Feeling suddenly both frustrated and protective, Bryce said, “Lorna is a lot stronger than ye think she is, Laird. I think ye should let her come down. She was there with me taeday, and she handled it well. She should be able tae describe what she saw.”
Fergus straightened, his green eyes flashing with anger. But he didn’t say anything; merely kept his eyes on Bryce as he said, “Fine, then. Bring her down. Let us see the lass’s strength.”
* * *
Lorna was sitting with Kyla in her room when the knock came. “Miss,” a servant called through the door. “Yer father and the Englishman wish tae see ye.”
“Tell them I will be there directly,” she called back through the door, and she stood, putting her fingers through her hair to straighten herself a little after the ordeal. Kyla wet a cloth in the basin of water and handed it to Lorna.
“Are ye certain ye wish tae speak tae them? Ye have had a shock. Ye should lay down a little bit longer.” Kyla watched as Lorna wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“Nae, I am nae a child,” she said, wanting very much to stomp her foot, but she remembered her resolve to show her parents who she truly was and how she was every one of her twenty years. “I mean that I am prepared and ready. I should like tae help Mrs. Creech. She would come all the time when we were children tae see how we fared, cleaning scrapes, and helping bad stomachs. She didnae deserve this, and I want tae help find out what happened.”
Kyla smiled and held out her hand for the cloth. “Well, then ye look perfectly well, lass. Go on then.”
“Come with me, if ye like. It would help me if ye were there with me.” Lorna smiled and held out a hand.
Kyla took it and wrapped Lorna’s hand around her arm. “Of course. Taegether we shall go, lass.” Arm in arm they walked down the stairs to meet the men in the hall. Before they entered, Lorna squeezed Kyla’s arm and took a breath.
I can do this. I will show them me strength.
She stepped inside, and she was greeted by a handsome, fair-haired Englishman with a soldier’s coat. She bowed her head to him, and he smiled.
“Miss Lorna. I am Tobias Jones, the English commander for the fort in the area. Will you sit and tell me just what you saw this afternoon when you were in the company of Bryce?” Tobias motioned to a chair at one of the wooden tables which filled the hall, and she was glad that it was far away from the body of Mrs. Creech.
Swallowing hard, she tried to avoid her father’s eye after the mention of her being in Bryce’s company. They had been childhood friends, of course, but now that Bryce MacDowell was very much a man and she a woman, it wouldn’t be seemly for them to walk alone. And she blushed to think about what they had almost done right before she’d spotted the body.
“We were walking,” she said in a halting voice but cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. She had to remember to prove to everyone that she was strong enough to handle this. “I spotted a dark, large thing in the water, and I told Bryce about it. We thought it was some kind of animal at first, but then Bryce heaved the body ontae the bank.”
“And did you know the woman?” Tobias’s eyes were kind, and Kyla stood nearby to give her support, but it felt strange to speak to an Englishman about it all. She caught eyes with Bryce, and he nodded comfortingly.
“Aye, I kenned her well. She was a good and kind woman. She acted as healer for mostly ladies and midwife tae us and tae the nearest village.”
