Flynn nodded. “Aye. Somebody had to.”
Heather lifted the saddle panel, surprised again by its weight. Not just leather, but memory. The underside bore the marks of urgency: stitching reinforced by hand, seams reworked, not for beauty but for survival.
“This wasn’t planned,” she murmured. “They must’ve adapted.”
Eleanor stepped closer. “They were running.”
Heather nodded. “Hiding… Mourning.”
She turned the panel slightly. The thistle stamp—faint, almost worn away—caught the light.
“Dubh carried it because he was the only horse who could,” Heather said. “A man on the road was suspicious. A widow with a horse wasn’t.”
Flynn swallowed. “Harris carried the weight until he couldnae anymore. Then Fiona did.”
Heather lowered the panel and reached for Flora’s note again.
“She didn’t leave instructions,” Heather said slowly. “She left custody.”
Flynn frowned. “What d’ye mean?”
“This wasn’t improvised,” she said slowly. “Fiona knew exactly what she was doing.”
Eleanor frowned. “You mean she planned this?”
Heather nodded. “They chose the saddle because it moved. Because it looked ordinary. Because no one would think to cut it apart unless they already knew.”
Flynn swallowed. “And Flora?”
“Flora knew,” Heather said. “She knew what was in it, and why it couldn’t be separated from the rest.”
She reached for the parchment again.
“She wasn’t guarding a clue,” Heather continued. “She was guarding custody. A single piece of something too dangerous to keep whole.”
Eleanor crossed her arms. “Then why leave anything in the hearth at all?”
Heather looked toward the fire.
“The ingot and the coin weren’t hidden,” she said. “They were meant to be found.”
Flynn stilled.
“They were proof,” Heather continued. “Not directions. Not a map. Proof that the legend was real… and that the rest existed somewhere beyond greed.”
She met Flynn’s eyes.
“If someone tore Glenoran apart looking for more, they’d never find it. But someone who honored the house… preserved it… stayed…”
Flynn exhaled. “Would earn the truth.”
Heather nodded.
“My mother wanted to unearth the proof,” she whispered. “But she didn’t have time to understand what it meant.”
Eleanor turned away, her shoulders tight. “Eilidh always said history doesn’t belong to the ones who seize it.”
Heather touched the saddle panel again.
