Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Cavell and Elsie sat in silence after Ann took her leave, the only sound the pop and crackle of the flaming logs, though there was the occasional rumble of thunder heralding an approaching storm.
Elsie broke the silence after a while. “My da says we should leave the past in the past, but I fear that is not possible. The warrior you killed to save my da had asked him which one of us was she and when my da told him he didn’t know, he said he would collect and kill us all.”
Cavell bolted forward in the chair. “And you did not think to tell me this?”
“There was so much going on, the attack, worry about my da, but mostly fear of losing you that I forgot about it until now.”
“It was not fair of me, wife, to be angry at you,” Cavell said, guilt gnawing at him for snapping at her. “I am glad you finally recalled it. It tells us that the search is to find one of you with the intentions of seeing that person dead though they would not stop at killing all three of you to accomplish the mission. Yet the Lowlander’s mission is to return with the young woman he was sent to find. Either way poses much danger for you and your sisters.”
As his words hung in the air, a chilling silence once again descended upon the room. Elsie’s heart pounded loudly in her chest, drowning out the rest of the world. She felt a knot forming in her stomach and color drained from her face. She clenched her fists, trying to steady herself, but the weight of the news was too much to bear. Her thoughts raced, trying to comprehend the reality of the situation. Her da had been right to fear for her and her sisters’ safety. Their three lives were at risk. Someone wanted one of them dead and was willing to kill all three of them to successfully complete his mission. And an abduction was possible as well.
Cavell had his wife out of the chair and into his arms and returned to his chair to sit with her tucked in his lap with ease and speed.
“I did not give this enough thought. For someone to want another dead so badly he would allow others to be killed to make certain the intended person died means this person believes the child, who is now grown, would be a hindrance or danger to him,” Elsie said, trying to make further sense of it. “And that means—” She stopped, fearful of speaking her thoughts.
Cavell finished for her. “The person is powerful and possibly influential. Brother Emanual told me that he gave his word to an unnamed nobleman that Edith would remain under his care until her dying day but with the arrival of the Lowlander I would guess something changed those plans. I also wonder over the accusation that Edith had stolen the breaths of bairns at birth as a sign that they knew she had stolen the bairns at birth and she would pay for it. Your da was right to worry over your sisters and your safety. But you have no worries, wife, I will keep you safe.”
“I do not fear for myself. I know I am safe with you,” she said and kissed his cheek.
He never thought he would be comfortable with any woman kissing his face ever again. Elsie changed all that and he was glad she did.
“It is Leora I fear for out there somewhere all alone with no one to protect her and no hint of where she may be.”
“Noble will find her and once he does, she will be safe with him,” Cavell said, trying to reassure her.
“Once he finds her, but until then she is vulnerable and in danger.” Her brow frowned in puzzlement, and she slipped off her husband’s lap to pace in front of him. “Numbers make sense to me. You add, subtract, multiply, divide and have an answer. But what has happened here multiplies without making sense. My da weds his three daughters to keep them safe. Rogue warriors haunt the area. All those at the abbey are slaughtered. A Murdock croft was attacked, the family almost killed. There was an attack on Clan Murdock by rogue warriors. A troop of Lowlanders show up searching for an old woman. The old woman is the one from the abbey, or so we assume, only to find out it is not her at all but her sister who is the one who delivered me and my sisters and rescued us from certain harm.” She stopped pacing, shook her head, and continued. “How does this all connect, make sense, provide any answers at all? “
“Maybe we look at it wrong,” Cavell suggested. “Maybe someone is desperate to find this child, now grown, while another someone is desperate that the now grown child is not found. Perhaps the acknowledgment of this person’s existence threatens someone’s inheritance. The trusted midwife would know who the rightful parents are of the bairns, providing proof. A possibility to consider and one that would make the situation that more dangerous since when a large inheritance is involved, a person would do anything not to lose it.”