Page 27 of The Lady of Her Highland Clan

He passed the parchment to Aileen, whose eyes rounded as she read it. Nodding, she passed it again to Grace.

After a pause, Grace spoke. "So, ye’re all agreed that it is real?"

The others nodded, and Fiona murmured, "We ken it's a real letter." There was still a trace of doubt in Fiona's voice, but Billie butted in.

"Nay, I think this could be it," he said excitedly. His bright-blue eyes glistened almost as much as his red hair. "Because look, this drawing here, it's a place that I can remember father talking about."

"Father?" said Fiona, taking it and folding down the crease. "But I dinnae remember..." She frowned. The scribbles on the parchment provided a clue—to a place she thought she knew—but there was nothing to link it to her father.

Beside her, Billie was looking smug. Basking in the gaze of his sisters, he took the parchment and pointed.

"Ah, but dear sister, there are some things a father tells a son." He grinned. "An', aye, I do remember Father mentioning that place, here an' there, as somewhere he spent time."

Billie sighed. "An' it's a muckle pity it is no longer in the Duncan clan, else I would go an' look for it right noo!"

Grace looked aghast. "An' ye didnae think tae mention it afore?"

Fiona stirred, sharing her sister's sentiment. Questioningly, she looked at Billie. In his clan plaid, he looked every inch the laird's son. In surprise, she noticed a wispy beard forming on his chin. Maybe at last he was nearly ready to be a warrior.

Nearly.

Incredulity built in Billie's cheeks, illuminating his ears. "Och, I havenae seen this map afore," he said scoldingly. "An' like I said, it is in the neighboring clan, in bandit land. Besides, I had no reason tae think there was any gold there, let alone the clan gold."

"Which still may nae exist," reminded Fiona pertinently. But the more they talked about it, the more real it felt.

"Well, there's only one way tae find out, Sister," said Grace archly. She had been watching all this from the window seat but now drew closer into the chamber to speak with them.

Behind them, the hum of the hunting party carried on. And for the moment, all that could be heard was a loudly enthusiastic hunting song being sung at top volume, and very badly.

“They blew a mort u'on th' bent, they 'sembled on sides shear, to th' quarry, ... th' Percy went... brittling o' th' deer...!”

The drunken groan of the hunters drowned out whatever they might have been about to say, and Grace smiled amusedly as the singing grew louder—and more off-key by the second.

Finally, during a pause for more drink, Grace managed to continue.

"We'll nae ken if it is real or nae if we dinnae go," she said, and they all nodded. Beside her, Fiona sensed that Billie was about to volunteer himself to look. Before he could open his mouth, she assented.

"Alright," she said, an odd combination of reluctance and intrigue holding her. In many ways, she was reticent about this trip. What if it did not yield what they hoped? Would the elders think badly of her?

On the other hand, the lure of treasure was obviously a great pull. But this was not the real reason she felt so much trepidation.

It was the journey out there with Clyde. She already had mixed feelings about it. As much as she wanted to be with him, she could not forget the fact he was only using her to get at the gold.

Internally, she wondered why she even needed him to accompany her. The clan gold belonged to the Duncans. Although there was the question of it lying on what was practically technically Greenock territory.

Seeing Fiona's uncertain face, Grace came up to her, giving her arm a squeeze.

"A penny for them, dear sister," she said at Fiona's downcast face. Fiona looked up, not noticing she had been dreaming. Seeing Grace's benign grin, she realized what she was thinking.

"Nay, I—" she began, protesting perhaps a little too much. "It's nae that, I..."

Grace ignored her fumbled excuse. Pressing her bold face closer, she shook her head.

"Ye should marry him," she said bluntly. Behind her, Aileen giggled.

"What?" said Fiona, and almost pushed her over out of surprise. But Grace stood firm.

"Ye should marry him. Like the elders said, the clan needs a laird." Her eyes twinkled.