The alarm in Drew’s voice set the fine hairs on the back of Reginald’s neck, on edge. “What is it?”
Drew pointed through the rib bones, to the skeleton’s left hand. The third and fourth finger bones were only stubs. The ends had clean edges as if they’d been chopped or sawed off, during the victim’s lifetime.
Gasping, Reginald staggered back. “Nae!’Tis impossible!”
Something sucked all the air from the cave. He couldnae get his chest to expand.
Drew stared up at him in disbelief. “This is… I can’t believe it’s even possible! Reg, this is,Fergus!”
“It cannae be!” Reginald shook his head in denial. “Right here! All this time?” He slumped to the cave floor, before his legs gave out. His hands trembled and his heart couldnae find a steady beat. “Do ye ken we could be wrong?” He couldnae trust his own thoughts. He needed Drew to be a voice of reason. “A coincidence, mayhap?”
Drew’s snort was answer enough. “It would be a heck of a stretch, if it was.” He shifted to face Reginald. “Look, personally, I don’t think there is any question here, but DNA can tell us for sure. They can do DNA on bones this old, can’t they?”
“DNA?”
Drew’s brows knotted. “You know… The molecule that caries our genetic codes? But, come on, Reg. We both know this is Fergus. You should be happy. This pretty much exonerates him since I don’t see any treasure. Do you?” He half-laughed. “Come on, isn’t this what you wanted? To find out what happened to him?”
“Aye.” Reginald nodded through a haze of shock and confusion. “I wanted tae ken what happened tae him. But findin’ him like this, doesnae exactly absolve him of guilt, does it?”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
“George Beattie died before they could deliver the treasure. And, ye said yer grandsire returned, penniless, after bein’ hit o’er the head. And the treasure was missin’. So, that still points tae Fergus, does it no’? The question now, is who killed Fergus? If we kenned that, we’d ken who ended up with the treasure.” He glanced at the pitiful pile of bones. “Until we ken where the treasure went, he’s still guilty.”
“We’re not through here, and I haven’t finished my research at home, either. We’ll figure it out.” Drew began scanning the cave floor. “Let’s take a closer look. Maybe there’s something we missed.”
Long, tedious minutes later, after working down one side of the tunnel, across the front and back the other side, they’d turned up next to nothing.
“Some broken crockery, two musket balls and a rusty piece of something. Looks like whoever killed Fergus took anything that might identify either of them, out with him.”
Drew sounded almost as frustrated as Reginald felt.
“I dinnae ken they brought much. It couldnae have been easy, gettin themselves down here, let alone anything else.”
“I’d like to take some pictures of the remains, before we turn it over to the authorities.”
Reginald stopped short. “Authorities? Nae. I intend tae take Uncle Fergus up on the hill and give him a proper burial, beside his brother. After lyin’ here alone, for centuries, I ken he deserves that much!”
“Of course he does.” Drew reasoned, “But there are laws about tampering with remains. We can’t move him ourselves. A forensics team will do that. Then, when they’re through, you can lay him to rest with whatever honors, you choose.”
Reginald’s jaw ached from clenching it so hard. Had things changed so much that a man couldnae even bury his own family?
“I dinnae ken half of what ye said, Drew. But I trust ye wouldnae misguide me. So, I guess we’ll do it, yer way.”
“They can positively identify him, so there’s no question at all about him leaving Scotland, with the treasure. Who knows, maybe it will even rewrite some Jacobite history.”
“I dinnae ken how that can happen until the treasure is accounted for.”
“At the very least, we have another piece to that puzzle you talked about. And it helps focus my research. No more lengthy searches through ships records,” he added with a smile. “I’ll take those pictures,” Drew said. “And then we can go make some calls. If you’re ready, that is.”
Reginald sighed. He wasnae ready to invite strangers into his private quest. No’ yet, when he’d only traded one mystery for another. Fergus’ story may have a new version, but ’twas still the same legend, as long as any fingers could be pointed at him.
The fight was still a long way from over, but by all the stars in the heavens, Reginald wouldnae give up. If anything, he was more determined than ever. If that meant allowing someone else tae carry Fergus’ remains up the cliffs, then so be it. At least he could lay the man’s bones to rest, even if he couldnae do the same for his spirit.
“Aye, Drew. I’m ready!”
* * *
’Twasharder to leave Fergus in the cave, than Reginald anticipated. All this time wondering where he’d gone. ’Twas hard to accept he was right there, at the edge o’ the glen, the entire time.
